Phantasma Nereiorum Formant
by CSIalchemist
Summary: My first MerDanny fic. A rare species of merman comes to the surface in the guise of a human to find a mate. He must do it while avoiding humans who wish to hunt him and endanger his race. This is my first MerDanny fic so please be nice. DxS TxV Cover by CartoonFreakshow
1. Fateful Encounter

**Okay, I'll bite. I'm gonna give the MerDanny thing a try. This is something I'm trying while I'm overcoming writer's block for _Voice of the Spirits_. That and because I'm bored. I hope you don't think this is too crazy.  
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**Enjoy...I hope...  
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**Chapter 1**

**Fateful Encounter**

Ten-year-old Samantha Manson walked along the sandy beach looking for sand dollars and shells. It was the only fun thing to do whenever she went to the beach.

"Maybe I'll find a treasure map in a bottle or an oyster with a shiny pearl in it," the girl said to herself as she picked up another shell. She sighed. Coming to Masters Manor was always boring for Samantha. Every summer her family would visit Masters Manor for a week to get away from the city. Vlad Masters was a longtime family friend who owned his own private beach. The billionaire was a rather private man who owned several mansions all over the country but every summer he'd stay in Amity Park, California to see his friend, Jeremy Manson for a week.

"I hate coming here every summer," Samantha whined to no one in particular. "What's the point of coming here anyway? Mr. Masters doesn't have any toys or video games. He doesn't even have kids."

"Sammy!" Samantha's mother called. "Time to come in before you get a sunburn!"

Sam rolled her eyes. "It's Sam," she said to herself as she started walking towards the mansion. Little did she know that someone was watching her from the water.

~0~0~0~

Daniel dove back into the depths of the water completely excited. For the past two years he had been learning about humans and collecting any "artifacts" he found at the bottom of the ocean floor. Today, he had finally gathered the courage to go to the surface and see if he could observe at least one human from a safe distance.

This human looked to be about his age and female. She was very pretty but she also seemed lonely from what he heard her say. Maybe he could help her not be so lonely.

He swam further down until he came across an old grotto. "Tucker! Are you here?" he called.

A boy appeared from the shadows of the grotto. His black dreadlock hair was dangling out of a red beret. His skin was dark and he had evergreen tentacles where his legs would have been.

"Hey, Danny! You'll never believe what human celebrities will throw into the ocean these days!" he exclaimed excitedly as he held up several devices in his tentacles.

The new human objects his friend found immediately mesmerized Danny. "Whoa! These are amazing…what are they?" he asked in astonishment.

Tucker held up a book in another tentacle. "According to this book, which I translated some of the words by the way, they're called 'cell phones'."

Danny blinked his bright green eyes. "Don't you mean 'shell phones'?" he joked.

Tucker shook his head. "No. On the surface they're called cell phones. I don't know why humans call them that."

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "Weird. Anyway I finally did it," he announced.

Tucker did a double take at that. "You did it? You finally went to the surface?" he asked.

Danny nodded his white-haired head. "Yep."

"Did you see any humans? Did they see you?"

"In that order: Yes, I saw one human and no, she did not see me," Danny replied proudly.

Tucker brightened at the news. "You saw a real live human?!" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah! It was a female human and she looked like she was our age," said Danny. "And she was really pretty but she was also really lonely."

Tucker frowned. "She was lonely? Man, I wish you could have talked to her," he said.

Danny nodded sadly. "Yeah. Me too," he said. All merfolk were forbidden to communicate with humans for fear of discovery. Danny had heard several tales of merfolk being captured by humans and enduring experiments worse than torture. Luckily other humans would dismiss these sightings as hoaxes and never pursued the matter any further.

"I want to make her feel better so she won't be so lonely," said Danny.

Tucker's jaw dropped. "Are you serious, Danny? If she sees you, she'll tell the other humans and you'll be taken away!" he exclaimed.

Danny gave Tucker a sly smile. "Which is why we'll give her something that will cheer her up. She won't know it's from us."

"Excuse me. 'We'?"

"Yes, 'we'," said Danny. "I need you to help me find something amazing for her."

"Like what? You don't even know what she likes."

"True. But I heard her say she wanted to find a treasure map in a bottle or an oyster with a pearl inside it," said Danny.

Tucker put away the cell phones and looked through the human artifacts the two of them had found over the years. Most of it was just worthless junk that no one would miss.

"Let's see…I don't see any pearls or anything like that here. Do you think she'll like this weird wand?" Tucker asked as he held up the wand (it was really a handgun, unloaded).

Danny crinkled his face and shook his head no as he swam up and looked through the things on the shelves. "Earrings, nah. Jazz might like them though. Strange flat disc, no. I don't even know what a 'Goldfinger' is. Uuughh! I've got nothing! Tuck?"

"Do you think she'll like these 'Pokémon' cards?" Tucker asked as he held up a couple of Pokémon cards in his hands. Tucker was learning how to read and write in human English and only knew a handful of words.

"No way! None of those even look pretty," Danny protested.

"What about this thing?" Tucker asked as he held up an old game cartridge with a picture of a man wearing a red hat and blue overalls.

"We don't even know what that thing is."

"Yeah but the man on it looks funny so I'm keeping it," said Tucker.

The two gave up and started swimming home. "I don't know how we're going to make that human girl happy," said Danny.

"I don't know about you but maybe we should have given her one of those 'cell phones' I found today," said Tucker.

"What would she do with them?"

Tucker opened his mouth and realized that he had no idea what a human girl would do with a cell phone. He only translated the words "cell" and "phone" and that was as far as he got.

~0~0~0~

"Sammy, eat your steak," Pamela Manson told her daughter. "If you don't eat it, you won't grow big and strong."

"But the meat is too tough," Sam protested as she tried to cut her meat.

Vlad Masters sighed silently. He snapped his fingers and a servant came and cut Sam's meat into little bite-sized pieces. The girl was quite a whiner. Made him glad he never had kids. It irritated him that she always wanted to go play on his private beach. The place wasn't a playground, for God's sake! He used the beach to gather research. He's caught several rare sea creatures in the past and made several fortunes off of them.

"I don't even like meat," Sam protested.

"Sammy, just eat your dinner or no dessert," said Jeremy.

~0~0~0~

The following morning Danny swam along the ocean floor looking for oysters. He found one and shook it then banged it against a rock. He frowned. This one wasn't ready yet. He put it down and kept swimming. He kept checking several oysters to find a pearl but didn't find any luck.

He suddenly found a beer bottle that was surprisingly intact. He smiled as he remembered that the girl wanted to find a treasure map in a bottle. He didn't know where to find a treasure map but maybe he can put something else in it instead. He picked up the bottle when he saw another oyster buried in the sand. Danny picked up the oyster and shook it. A faint rattle was heard. Feeling excited, Danny started banging the oyster against a rock. The clam snapped open and a shiny pearl was sitting inside.

Danny smiled and plucked the pearl out of the oyster.

"You know, you could just ask! No need to get violent!" the oyster suddenly yelled, making Danny jump.

"Sorry. I need it to make a girl happy," the merboy said.

"Oh. Well, why didn't you say so?"

"I wasn't expecting you to say something."

"Forget it. Just take it and go."

Danny smiled at the oyster. "Thank you for the pearl."

"Good luck, kid," said the oyster. Danny smiled at the clam, put him down and swam off.

Danny returned to his grotto and rummaged through some of the human relics he collected. He went through a little bag filled with doubloons and they were the most unusual doubloons Danny had ever seen. Some were made of copper with a bearded man's face on them. Others were a silver color with different men on them. Danny put the smaller doubloons in the bottle.

"Now I just need to write a message," Danny said to himself. The problem was that he had no idea how to write in the human language. There was only one mermaid he knew that studied the English language: Jazz.

Merfolk could speak in English too. Their version of reading and writing, however, was different. They could read and write in Atlantian. They were also unfamiliar with human slang. They didn't know what 'dawg' meant or that 'bitch' had more than one meaning.

Danny swam home and went to his sister's room. He knocked on the door. A twelve-year-old mermaid answered the door. She had long red hair with a blue headband. Her tailfin was sky blue with matching blue fins on her forearms and ears.

"Danny? What are you doing here? I thought you were hanging out with Tucker," said Jazz.

"Sorry, sis. But I need your help and Tucker doesn't know how to write in human English."

Jazz's eyebrows went up. "Write in human English? Are you nuts? Why do you want to learn how to write in human English?"

"Uh…because…I met a girl who is interested in learning how to read and write in human English," Danny told his sister. It was pretty much most of the truth. The only detail he left out was that the girl was human.

After several hours of learning how to write human English, Danny finally managed to write, "My name is Danny" on a piece of paper. Danny thanked his sister and left the house for the surface. He only hoped that the human girl was at the beach again. He was so eager that he noticed too late that his jet-black tail was tangled in a huge net. Danny realized that he ventured too close to the shore as the waves slowly brought him to the beach.

~0~0~0~

Sam walked through the sand once again, her pail empty. Her mother tossed the shells and sand dollar pieces she worked so hard to collect back into the ocean. She didn't think the shells were worth anything so she just tossed them like they were garbage. Sam thought they were pretty.

"It's not fair. Mom buys a whole bunch of clothes she doesn't even wear and she still keeps them," Sam said to herself. She looked up from the sand and saw something splashing about not too far from where she was standing. She shaded her eyes and squinted to get a better look. A boy was tangled up in some fishing net. He had a very unusual appearance. For starters, his hair was pure white and his eyes were big and green.

Sam shook herself out of her gaze and started running towards the boy when she tripped and fell on some broken glass. "Ow!" she cried as she saw a huge cut on the bottom of her foot. The splashing continued and Sam had to swallow her pain in order to free the boy. Remembering something from a movie she watched, she carefully grabbed a big piece of broken glass and limped her way toward the boy.

When she finally reached him, Sam saw that this boy was indeed very unusual. Two slits that looked like gills were on each side of his neck. Black and white fins were sticking out of his head where his ears should have been. He had matching fins on his forearms as well. He also had a fin running down his back leading to a jet-black tail where his legs would be. His hands were also a little webbed.

"You're a mermaid – I mean, merman," she gasped.

The boy cowered away as far as the net would let him. "Please don't hurt me," he pleaded softly.

Sam knelt into the sand and pulled the net out of the water, ignoring the screams that were coming from the mysterious boy. Seeing that he wasn't going to calm down by himself, Sam put the broken piece of glass in her shovel and went to the water with her pail. She filled it up with water and splashed the boy, shutting him up. Sam picked up the broken glass and slowly approached the merboy.

"It's okay," she assured him. "I'm just going to cut the net open so you can get out. I promise I won't hurt you, okay?"

The boy only nodded slowly.

Sam smiled and gingerly held the shard of glass in her hand and started cutting a hole in the net, making sure she didn't cut her fingers. It made her glad that her mother dragged her to those Girl Scout meetings against her will. The boy's neon green eyes never left her. He continued to stare at her as she made the hole big enough for him to escape.

"There!" said Sam. "That should be big enough for you to get out." She held the net up for the boy to get out. He slowly did, never breaking his gaze from her. As soon as he was free, Sam tossed the net aside as best she could. Another wave of water splashed the two, the salt water getting into Sam's cut making it sting something awful. "OW!" she cried as she fell into the sand, clutching her foot.

The boy, who was about to get back into the water, heard her scream in pain and looked back at her. He saw that she was clutching her foot in pain. He tossed his fear of her aside and cautiously crawled over to her. "Are…you…hurt?" he asked carefully.

"I cut my foot! It hurts really bad!" Sam cried, her purple eyes filling with tears.

"Let me see," the boy said as his webbed hands grabbed her foot. Danny examined it with fascination. A human foot looked similar to a hand except that it didn't have a thumb. He noticed blood coming from the arch of Sam's foot and stared at it. "You have…red blood too," he noted. He wiped his finger over the injury to get a better look at her blood, ignoring a wince coming from her.

"Stop touching it," Sam scolded. "It hurts when you touch it." Danny's webbed hand began glowing bright green. He then gripped Sam's foot tight and squeezed it. "W-What are you doing?" She tried not to shudder; his hand was so slimy. It was like a frog was holding her foot.

Danny then let go. Sam looked at her cut and saw that the green light was closing it. As soon as the light faded, the cut was completely gone. No sign of it was visible anywhere, not even a scar.

"Better?" the boy asked.

Sam wiggled her foot and flexed her toes. No pain was felt anywhere. She looked at the boy and smiled. "Yes. Much better. Thank you," she said.

The boy smiled back at her and got close to her face. "You're a pretty human," he stated. He felt her neck. There were no slits on it like his. "No gills." He then tugged on her ears gently. "Ears are different," he noted. He also noted that she had amethyst eyes. They reminded him of his mother's eyes except they were a different shade. "Pretty eyes…"

All this time, Sam remained completely still as he examined her body. Clearly this boy had never seen a human being before. The whole time he was comparing his body to hers. Sam was surprised that he spoke English. She was flattered that he thought she was pretty.

"My name is Danny," he said, pointing to himself. He then pointed to Sam. "Human?"

"Uh…my name is Sam."

"Sam?"

Sam nodded. "Yes."

Danny smiled again. "Sam. That's a pretty name," he said. Sam blushed at that. Danny then pulled out a beer bottle and held it in front of her. "Treasure," he said.

Sam looked at the beer bottle dumbly. "It's just a beer bottle full of sea water," she said.

Danny shook his head. "No. The treasure is in the bottle," he explained. "I heard you yesterday. You wanted a treasure map in a bottle. I didn't know where to find a map so I put treasure in it instead." Sam tried to open the bottle but Danny stopped her. "Not here. Wait until you get home."

"Sammy! Time to come inside! You've been outside for far too long!" Pamela called.

Danny blinked at Sam. "Sammy? I thought it was Sam."

Sam frowned. "My name is Sam," she said to herself. She then turned her attention to Danny. "You better get out of here. If my mom saw you, she'll freak out. Even worse, Mr. Masters might find you and take you away."

Danny paled at this revelation. "Okay," he nodded. "Can I come back to see you again?"

Sam looked back toward the house before answering. "Sure. But I'm only here till Saturday. Afterwards, I have to go home in the city," she explained.

"SAMMY!"

Sam grimaced. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Same time, same place."

Danny nodded before jumping back into the ocean.

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**Too stupid? Too out of my league? **

**I just wrote this because I'm fresh out of ideas for _Voice of the Spirits_. If you want me to continue with this, let me know. No reviews for this equals no updates and I take this down from the website for good.  
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	2. Two Worlds

**I'm surprised that people actually want me to continue this. Please keep these reviews coming. I can feel my self-esteem rising every time you do.**

**Enjoy!  
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**Chapter 2**

**Two Worlds**

Sam ran back to Masters Manor with her gift in one hand, her pail and shovel in the other. She was happy that she made a new friend, even though he wasn't exactly human. She definitely wasn't going to tell her parents about him. And she _definitely_ was going to make sure Mr. Masters doesn't find out. If it was he who found Danny instead of her…let's just say it would have been something out of an R-rated horror movie and leave it at that.

"Samantha! What are you doing with that disgusting old bottle?" Jeremy asked as he eyed Sam's treasure bottle in her hand.

Sam held the bottle close to her. "I found it on the beach today, Dad. It has treasure inside. Please let me keep it," she pleaded, giving her father a puppy-dog pout.

Unfortunately, both parents became immune to the pout when she turned eight. "No," they said to their daughter.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" cried Grandma Manson. "Haven't you two ever heard the phrase, 'One man's trash is another man's treasure'?"

"Mother, that thing is full of dirty salt water," Jeremy argued.

"So what? This is coming from the same boy who used to drink from the toilet."

"I was three, Mother! I didn't know any better!"

While the adults were arguing, Sam stealthily sneaked away to her guest room and locked the door. She ran into the bathroom, shut the door and locked it too. She hopped onto the counter and sat next to sink. She plugged the sink drain, opened the bottle and spilled its contents out. Besides the seawater pennies, nickels and dimes fell out of the bottle. She looked into it and saw that something was blocking the rest of the little treasures in the bottle. She stuck her finger in it and after a few tries, managed to get two Yu-Gi-Oh cards and a little note that said, "My name is Danny" out of it. Sam shook the bottle again and three shell casings fell out along with the most beautiful pearl Sam had ever laid eyes on.

She picked it up and held it in her hand to get a closer look. It was white, almost as white as Danny's hair. When she held it up to the light, streaks of green and purple could be seen on the pearl's glossy surface.

A knock on the bedroom door interrupted her work. "Sammy-kins! I don't hear running water!" Pamela's voice shouted.

Sam rolled her eyes and put her treasures back in the bottle. "It's Sam," she mumbled as she got out of her bathing suit and turned on the water.

~0~0~0~

Danny swam back home as quickly as he could. That was the most fascinating and the most terrifying experience of his life. Sam was the first human he'd ever met and she wasn't as scary as he thought. However, after she told him that not all humans were like her, Danny would have to be careful not to be seen by anyone else.

"I'm home!" Danny announced as he entered his house. To his surprise, his parents were waiting for him. Their arms were crossed across their chests and they were not happy to see him.

"You're in big trouble, young man," Danny's father, Jack said. Jack was rather large in size. He had salt-and-pepper hair and midnight blue eyes. His tail fin was bright orange and he had matching fins on his arms and fin-like ears.

"We saw you swimming toward the surface this morning," said Danny's mother, Maddie. She had short brown hair and purple eyes. Her tailfin was an aqua blue and had matching fins on her arms and fin-like ears. The bra she wore was lavender, which went well with her eyes.

"Haven't we told you enough times that going to the surface is forbidden?" Jack asked his son.

"No one saw me," Danny mumbled. He wasn't going to reveal his new secret friend to his parents.

"If someone did, do you have any idea what would happen to you?" Maddie asked.

Danny rolled his eyes. "I would be taken away and be locked away in a cage for humans to stare at me. Then the humans will come and capture the rest of us, thus endangering our entire race," he drawled. He'd heard this speech so many times he practically had it memorized.

Jack blinked. "Wow. And here I thought he was always toning us out whenever we told him that," he muttered.

Maddie sighed. "At least you've been listening to what we were saying."

~0~0~0~

That night, Sam decided to talk to the only person who could shed light on her new friend without endangering him: her grandmother. Agnes Manson was the wisest person Sam knew. Whenever Sam didn't understand something she didn't want to ask her parents about, she'd go to Agnes.

Sam knocked on Agnes's door. "Come in," she heard her grandmother say. Sam entered the room and saw her grandma sitting in bed reading a book. "Oh, Sammy. What brings you here at this hour?" she asked her granddaughter. Agnes was the only one who was allowed to call her Sammy. Sam thought it sounded better coming from her. The way her parents said it just annoyed her.

"Grandma, I have a question," Sam said as she closed the door.

"Ask away, Grasshopper. The Grandmother of All Knowledge is in," Grandma said jokingly.

"What do you know about…mermaids?" Sam asked as she hopped on the bed.

Agnes's eyebrows went up. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you know everything, Grandma. I can always count on you for anything," said Sam.

Agnes took off her reading glasses. "Well from what I read in books, they've been around for centuries. Remember when I told you the story of Odysseus and the Sirens?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. Odysseus and his friends put wax in their ears so they wouldn't be hypnotized by the Sirens' singing."

"Smart girl. That's what mermaids were also known for. They'd hypnotize sailors into crashing their ships into rocks."

"Are mermaids and sirens the same?"

Grandma shook her head. "No. Sirens could fly. Mermaids swam. Totally different," she explained.

"Are there any mermen?" Sam asked.

Agnes sighed as she wracked her brain for what she knew. "Well, I'm not completely familiar with them but I do know that they are handsome, powerful, and some of them have a lot of magical powers," she recalled. "Their singing can be enchanting when they want it to be. They're also very wise and knowledgeable."

Sam frowned. "Are they…bad?"

Agnes shrugged. "Now that I do not know. I've never met one so I wouldn't know. Why are you asking me? Did your crackpot of a teacher move on from fairy godparents to mermaids?"

Little did the two of them know that Vlad Masters was listening in on them. So the girl met a mermaid? _'Drat! I've been searching for years for a specimen and that little brat found one before I did. Well, I won't be letting one slip out of my hands again next time.'_ Vlad would have to keep a closer eye on Samantha from now on.

~0~0~0~

Danny swam quickly to the surface the following afternoon. He brought a satchel filled with a variety of human relics. He figured Sam might know what some of the items would be and how they worked. When he reached the surface, he looked around and saw Sam sitting in the sand waiting patiently for him.

After checking to make sure the coast was clear, Danny swam to shore.

Sam looked up and her face lit up. "Danny! You're back!" she exclaimed.

Danny smiled back. "Glad you made it. I have so many questions about humans!" he said excitedly.

Sam giggled. "Ask away then. I'll answer your questions as best as I can."

Danny opened his satchel and pulled out Tucker's old game cartridge. "What's this thing?" he asked.

Sam took it to get a closer look. "Cool! This is Mario Party for the Nintendo 64! You can't find these in stores anymore!" she exclaimed.

Danny tilted his head. "What's a 'Mario Party'? What's a Nintendo 64?" he asked.

"'Mario Party' is a video game we humans play on the Nintendo 64. That's a game station we plug into the TV," Sam explained.

"What does the 64 mean?"

"I don't really know," said Sam, furrowing her eyebrows.

Danny was even more confused. "Video game? Game station? What does TV stand for?" he asked.

"TV stands for television," Sam explained. "I don't know how to describe what a video game and a game station are."

"What's a television?"

"A big black box with moving pictures."

"How does it work?"

"I don't know. I just know how change the channels."

Danny shrugged and pulled out the next relic. "What's this thing?"

Sam gasped. "Get rid of that!" she yelled as she swatted it out of his hand. "That's a gun! They kill people!"

Danny yelped and threw it aside. "Guns _kill_ people? Why did humans invent them in the first place?" he asked exasperatedly.

"They're weapons. They're extremely dangerous," Sam explained. "I don't know why humans invented them."

"Okay. How about this strange disc?" Danny asked, pulling out the next item after calming himself down.

"That's a DVD."

"D…V…D?"

Sam nodded. "I think it stands for Digital Video Disc. I could be wrong."

Danny also nodded. "Okay. So what is a Goldfinger?"

"Oh! That's a James Bond movie. I've never seen it. Mom thinks it's too scary for me. I want to watch it so bad. It's rated PG for Pete's sake," said Sam.

"Who or what is James Bond?" asked Danny.

"He's a secret agent who saves the world."

"Interesting…"

"Now, I have some questions for you," said Sam.

Danny shrugged resignedly. "Okay."

"What's it like living under the sea?" the violet-eyed girl asked excitedly. "Does it have singing crabs and fish that play musical instruments like in the movies?"

"No. We have fiddler crabs but that's it. They're the only creatures that I know of that actually play a musical instrument," Danny explained.

Sam's eyes widened. "They actually play the fiddle?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah but they're not very good. They're more like pests for us."

"Oh," said Sam. "Okay, next question. Where do you live? In a house? In a cave?"

"It all depends on what's available to us. Some of us live in caves; some of us live in houses made of coral. Some of us even live in sunken ships."

"Sunken ships? Cool!" Sam exclaimed.

Danny tilted his head. "'Cool'? Are you cold?"

Sam giggled. "No, silly. It's human slang. It means 'interesting' or 'amazing' or something like that," she explained.

"Cool," Danny repeated. "Then when I say that the human world is 'cool'…"

"You're saying that the human world is interesting or amazing," Sam finished. "You get the idea. So, how do you get around? Do you actually swim everywhere to get from one ocean to the next?"

"No way!" laughed Danny. "That would be exhausting and it would take forever. Sometimes we use magic to get from one ocean to the next; sometimes we just ride the currents if it's a short distance away."

"Wow!"

Danny suddenly froze when he saw Vlad coming down the stairs to the beach. "I've gotta go," he said hurriedly.

Sam turned around to see what he was looking at and gasped. "Go. Take your stuff and go!" she said in a harsh whisper. Danny hurriedly gathered his stuff and dove into the water.

~0~0~0~

Vlad knew it. He knew that if he waited long enough, the merboy would appear. The boy looked up and noticed him. Next thing Vlad knew, the children were scrambling to get the boy's things together. _'You'll go nowhere.'_

Vlad pulled out a remote and pressed a button. The merboy was already in the water. Luckily Vlad had droids under the water that could capture the creature.

As Danny swam as fast as he could to get to safety, some metal creatures began to chase him. He tried swimming in zigzags, loop-de-loops and a multitude of various angles but he couldn't lose them. One of the metal creatures fired a net at the white-haired boy, capturing him. Danny wiggled and squirmed as best as he could to escape but it was futile. He was getting too tangled up in the net as the metal creature dragged him back to shore.

Splashing was heard as Danny continued to struggle. A pair of hands picked up the net and out of the water.

"No!" Sam voice was heard as she tried to reason with the mysterious stranger. "Mr. Masters, please let him go!"

"Stand aside, girl. This is _my_ private beach. Anything I find here belongs to me and this creature here belongs to me now," the evil human said.

"He belongs in the ocean with his mom and dad!" Sam argued. "He's my friend!"

"This _creature_ does not make friends with humans like us!" Vlad exclaimed.

"Yes, he does! Now please let him go!" Sam pleaded, her eyes filling with tears.

While the two of them were arguing, Danny was using a ray of energy to burn through the ropes of the net. The net broke through and Danny fell into the water with a loud splash.

"NO!" Vlad yelled as his specimen escaped.

"GO DANNY! GET OUT OF HERE!" Sam yelled as she tugged on Vlad's shirt to stop him. Danny dove into the water and never looked back.

"I'll come back to you one day, Sam. I promise," Danny vowed.

* * *

**Major time skip next chapter!**

**FYI: It's finals week. I won't be done till Thursday. You'll have to wait patiently for the next chapter till then. Keep reviewing! Followers, this means you!  
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**And for my readers who are Jewish: Happy Hanukkah!  
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	3. Eleven Long Years Later

**Misunderstanding! I'm done with my finals a day early! Yay for me! To celebrate, I'm giving you guys the next chapter!  
**

**Big time skip in this chapter! Enjoy!  
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**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Eleven Long Years Later**

Sam couldn't wait for the beginning of Fall Semester to start at Amity University. The summers at home were always the worst for her. That meant spending them with her overbearing parents who couldn't stand her new Gothic ways.

Sam just brought in the rest of her things for her dorm when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in!" she said.

The door opened and a young African American girl walked into the room. "Long time, no see, roommate," she greeted.

Sam smirked. "Good to see you again, Valerie. How was your summer?"

"Augh! Exhausting! All I did was work, work, work! I never had one day where I could actually sleep in till noon! Can you believe that?" the girl named Valerie said.

"It can't be any worse than my summer," said Sam. "If I wasn't at some stupid benefit ball with my parents, I'm being dragged to every country club in the state."

"Sheesh! Sounds like the most boring summer ever," said Valerie.

Sam rolled her eyes. "You have no idea," she muttered as she unpacked her belongings. An old beer bottle was lying on top of a pile of her clothes in her suitcase. Inside the bottle were a few pennies and dimes, two dried out Yu-Gi-Oh cards, a note with a child's handwriting on it, three shell casings, and a snow white pearl.

After what happened eleven years ago, Vlad banned Sam from Masters Manor. Now every time her family went, she had to stay behind. Sam was upset at first but since there had been no word about a fish boy in the news, she was relieved because she knew that Danny was safe. Still, whenever Sam looked at the bottle, a sort of guilt would tighten her chest. Every time she thought of him, she feared that Danny hated her for what almost happened to him. If Sam ever met him again, she wanted to apologize to him.

~0~0~0~

"Clothes?"

"Check."

"Books?"

"Check."

"Notebooks?"

"Check."

"Underwear?"

"Um…check!"

"Okay. That's everything," said Danny after going over his checklist with Tucker.

"I'm a little nervous about this," said Tucker.

"Come on, Tuck. We've been waiting for this moment for years. I'm pretty sure we're ready."

"I know but if we screw up, we're as good as sushi," said Tucker.

The two were finally going to college on the surface. After Danny's near-death experience, his parents kept a sharper eye on him till he was of age. It was said that when merfolk reached the age of eighteen they could grow legs and walk on land if they chose to do so. Unfortunately, no one had bothered to go on land in centuries so they unsure if it was still possible, that and because both boys' parents didn't trust them. It took the duo weeks to convince their families to allow them to go to college on the surface. After weeks of filling out transfer paperwork from Leviathan College, Danny and Tucker's families agreed they could go to the surface as long as they had someone to watch over them. Luckily they knew someone who was willing to take them in.

The two boys reached the surface. After making sure no one was looking, Danny and Tucker swam to a gathering of rocks on the shore and sat in the sand.

"So where are we staying?" Tucker asked his best friend a half-hour later.

"Mom told me we need to find someone named Dick Tock," Danny recalled. "He's supposed to run a clock shop. No one I've ever heard of."

Tucker sighed. "Well, I think we've dried off long enough. Ready to see if it works?"

Danny nodded. "Worth a shot." Both boys took slow deep breaths and closed their eyes. In a series of flashes of lights, legs replaced Danny's fins and Tucker's tentacles. The two of them looked at each other and saw the something was off.

"Well, this is awkward," said Tucker upon seeing that neither of them were wearing anything.

"At least it worked. Let's get some clothes on before someone sees us," said Danny. "You remember that drying spell?"

"Yeah. Let's dry our clothes before we get going." Danny and Tucker tried walking towards their bags but stumbled and fell face first in the stand. "Maybe we should have practiced walking before coming here," said Tucker as he spat sand out of his mouth.

"What do you expect?" asked Danny. "We're the first merpeople to ever walk on land in centuries. We're supposed to be rusty." He then got a good look at his best friend. "Dude, your hair is shorter," he noted.

Tucker took off his red beret and felt his head. He realized to his horror that his hair was indeed shorter. "What the heck happened to my dreadlocks?" he asked in horror. "It's like there's nothing underneath my hat! I feel bald!" Danny started laughing at his friend's reaction. Tucker frowned. "Have you looked in a mirror lately? You look more different than me."

Danny stopped laughing and crawled over to a nearby tide pool. He looked at his reflection in the water and saw that his long snow-white hair that was usually tied in a ponytail was now raven black and short and his neon green eyes were now icy blue. "What the HECK?!" he exclaimed. "Is that supposed to be me? I don't even recognize myself! Why did my appearance change more than yours?"

Tucker shrugged as he used a drying spell on their clothes. "The book I found did say that our appearances would be different on land. Some more than others," he recalled. He looked at Danny and squinted. "Dude, you look all blurry."

"What do you mean? You could see fine a moment ago," said Danny as he put his clothes on.

"I wasn't like this before we came here," said Tucker.

"Maybe your eyesight is different on land too."

"That's the only explanation I can come up with," Tucker shrugged.

After about an hour of teaching themselves how to stand upright and walk the two of them finally left the beach to find their temporary home. The sights they saw astounded them to no end. They wanted to see what the arcade was like but they had no money so they reluctantly walked on.

Tucker suddenly bumped into someone while walking. "Excuse me," he said.

"Watch where you're going, loser!" the person said. He had blonde hair and broad shoulders that could intimidate anyone shorter than him.

"Hey, buddy, we don't want trouble," Danny said.

"Too bad," said the blonde brute. "You two dorks asked for it the second you bumped into me." He cocked his fist and prepared to strike the two newcomers.

"Dash Baxter!"

The boy, Dash, stopped what he was doing and turned to face a man standing in the doorway of his shop glaring at him. The man was wearing dark sunglasses but a scar was visible going down his left eye. His skin was a rather unhealthy pale color. He wore a lavender button-down shirt with khaki pants. He carried a cane that had multiple clocks all over it.

"What do you want, old man?" Dash asked rather rudely.

The man snorted. "I just wanted to thank you for finding my two new employees. I've been waiting all day for them to arrive."

Dash scoffed. "Whatever," he muttered as he walked away.

Danny and Tucker turned to the man.

"Thanks for the save, man," said Tucker.

"Yeah. We really appreciate it," Danny added. "Were you really waiting for us?"

The man opened the door and gestured them to follow him. They did so and saw that they were inside a clock shop.

"Your parents contacted me ahead of time to let me know you were coming. Of course, I was expecting it to happen," said the man.

"You're Dick Tock, aren't you?" Danny assumed.

The man nodded and opened the door with a staircase inside. The three went upstairs and saw that they were inside an apartment. The walls were covered with a variety of clocks, sundials, and hourglasses.

Both boys blinked. This was where they were staying?

"What's up with the clocks? Don't have enough downstairs?" asked Tucker.

"This is my private collection," said Dick as he removed his sunglasses. Danny and Tucker saw that Dick's eyes were bright red, no pupils were visible. His skin suddenly started to turn sky blue, his hands became webbed and fins appeared on his head. "When we're alone, you are to address me as Clockwork."

"Clockwork?!" Tucker and Danny said at the same time.

"THE Clockwork?" Tucker asked.

"Clockwork the Master of Time and the longest living merman since Triton, son of Poseidon?" said Danny.

Clockwork smirked. "The very same. I've been wandering on dry land since the Roman Empire fell. I no longer have a tail fin. Rather, I have legs with scaly skin and fins and webbed feet," he quickly explained.

"So, you're like a fishman?" asked Tucker.

Clockwork frowned. "I find that term very offensive, but yes. Anyway, you two will be sharing the spare bedroom. Your classes are already picked out and your schedules are sitting on your beds. And before you ask, your parents also contacted me with concerns about your transfer paperwork and let me assure you that I have already taken care of it. Your college believe that you two were already students there."

Danny blinked. "How did you do that?" he asked.

"I have my ways," Clockwork winked.

~0~0~0~

Sam and Valerie walked through town to buy food for their dorm. The girls were on their way when Sam noticed someone sweeping in front of Mr. Tock's clock shop. Who still did that?

Valerie followed Sam's gaze and saw a boy with black hair and blue eyes. "He's new," Valerie noted. "I've never seen him around here before."

Sam shrugged. "Maybe he's a transfer," she assumed.

Valerie smirked at her friend. "Think he's cute?" she teased.

Sam blushed a bright red. "No! I mean, I guess he is…kinda cute," she sputtered.

"Gonna ask him out?"

"No way!" Sam said hurriedly. "I don't even know who he is. I'm not going to date a complete stranger."

Valerie sighed. "Come on, Sam. Just because you met Elliot on a blind date and he turned out to be a complete phony, doesn't mean that they all are."

"Which is why that will be the last time I ever let you set me up on a blind date," Sam quipped.

"Hey!" Valerie exclaimed jokingly. Both girls laughed. "Look! That boy is looking at you," Val sang.

Sam looked up and saw that, indeed, the black-haired boy was staring at her. There was something about him that seemed familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it. He looked pretty scrawny but also had a boyish charm that still refused to leave him. A small smile appeared for a split second when Mr. Tock's voice called him inside. He took one last look at Sam before disappearing into the clock shop.

"He works for Mr. Tock?" Valerie grimaced. "I didn't think anyone would want to work for that weird man."

Sam shrugged again. "Like you said, he's new. Maybe he doesn't know about Mr. Tock's reputation."

"Whoever he is, he's gonna find out soon enough," said Valerie. "The place smells like dead fish."

~0~0~0~

That night, Danny went to the bathroom to take a shower. His thoughts kept going back to Sam. He didn't think he'd ever see her again after what almost happened eleven years ago. Danny understood why merfolk feared humans and were forbidden to walk on land. But he also knew that not all of them were like the male human with the silver hair. Sam proved that. Danny only hoped that she went to the same college he and Tucker were going to.

Danny stepped into the shower to wash the fishy smell away from his skin. He was a little reluctant to start work on the same day he moved in because of the smell. Danny did not want to risk exposing his true self to the public.

Danny was so busy washing himself that he didn't realize that his fishy features were slowly returning.

_SLIP! CRASH! BANG!_

Danny fell face first on the shower floor. He lifted his head to see that his tailfin replaced his legs. His arm fins returned and his hair was long and white again.

Tucker burst into the bathroom. "Danny! What happened? You okay – why are your fins out?" he asked.

"I don't know. I was taking a shower then all of a sudden, I'm falling flat on my face on the bathroom floor," said Danny.

Clockwork came in and saw Danny's predicament. "Do not be alarmed. This is a natural reaction. Whenever you get wet you'll change back into your true selves. That means no pool parties and no swimming at the beach."

Both boys groaned. "So much for seeing girls in bikinis," Tucker moaned.

"We can't even enjoy seeing any kind of girl in a bathing suit," said Danny. "You realize that we have to avoid the locker rooms too?"

"That means we can't even sneak into the girls' locker room either!" Tucker cried.

* * *

**How am I doing?**

**I loved coming up with Clockwork's human alias! Dick Tock! Haha! Get it?  
**

**If you're wondering why Danny and Tucker are walking on land when it's forbidden, you'll find out eventually. ;)  
**

**I know Valerie is a little OOC, I'll fix that too.  
**

**Keep those reviews coming!  
**


	4. New Semester

**I am officially on Winter Break which means that I can goof off more! Yay!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**New Semester**

Sam and Valerie were enjoying a bonfire at the beach the day before the start of the new semester. However, their enjoyment was ruined when four unwanted guests appeared. Dash Baxter and his crew came and took over the fire.

"So much for enjoying a nice, quiet last evening of summer," said Sam.

"It's more enjoyable now that we're here," said Dash.

"Really? I can't enjoy it that over the stench of alcohol," said Sam. "I can smell it from over here."

"You're just jealous that Dash can drink three beers without getting drunk," said Paulina Sanchez, Dash's girlfriend.

"She's probably drinking too much as well," Valerie muttered to Sam. "Do you have any idea how many times I've caught Dash making out with some random girl on campus last year?"

"You did what?" Paulina asked Dash.

"She's lying," he said. "Anyway, did you know that Old Man Tock actually hired two people to work for him?"

Dash's friend Kwan's eyes widened. "He actually hired someone? I thought he wasn't looking for workers."

"Who would?" said Paulina. "My papa went to his clock shop to pick up my grandfather's watch and he said that the place smelled like dead fish."

"With the shape the economy is in these days, he's probably desperate to keep his business alive," Sam muttered. "Besides, he's not that old. He looks like he's in his early fifties."

Star scowled at Sam. "Why don't you do us a favor and beat it?" asked Star. "Your geekiness is cramping our style."

Valerie and Sam stood up and marched away. This was how they'd been treated since freshman year and it hadn't changed in the least since then. Because of Sam's Gothic ways and Valerie's poor background, both girls had been considered outcasts.

"I'm going back to the dorm," said Valerie. "You coming?"

"Nah," said Sam. "I think I'll walk around the beach a little bit longer."

"You want the mace or the taser?"

"Give me the mace. The taser needs charging," said Sam as her roommate gave her the mace.

"Don't stay out too late," said Valerie.

The two friends parted ways. Even though the beach was now dark, the memories of that summer were still fresh in Sam's mind. She never told anyone, not even Valerie, about Danny. It was a secret she had to tell no one. Besides, Valerie would probably think she took something she shouldn't have if she told.

_"Like painted kites, those days and nights, they went flyin' by_

_ The world was new beneath the blue umbrella sky…"_

Sam stopped in her tracks when she heard someone singing a song that was too familiar to her.

_ "Then softer than a piper man one day it called to you_

_ I lost you, I lost you to the summer wind."_

Sam looked around to see who was singing that beautiful yet lonely song. Whoever it was made Justin Bieber sound tone-deaf. She saw a boy up ahead sitting on some rocks on the shoreline. His hair was snow white that seemed to shine in the moonlight. Something was sticking out of his arms. Sam squinted and saw that they were fins. Matching fins were sticking out of his head where his ears would be along with a fin going down his back. She gasped as she saw whom she was staring at. She hadn't seen him in eleven years.

She took a step forward but her combat boots crushed some small shells, catching the boy's attention. He turned his head and stared at Sam with his neon green eyes that appeared to be glowing in the dark. Panicking, he dove into the water and out of sight.

"Wait!" Sam called as she ran towards the rocks where he once was. She was positive it was him. It had to be.

~0~0~0~

Danny swam to the docks, cursing himself the whole way. He should have been paying more attention when he sang to himself on the surface. He couldn't help it. It's part of a mermaid's (or merman's) nature to sing when the moon was bright, full or not (usually full), on land or sea.

Tucker was waiting for him with a towel ready for him. "Enjoy your swim?" Tucker asked.

Danny dried off and changed back into a human. "It was nice until a human saw me," he grumbled. "I hate it when the moon is full. I get so into it that I don't pay attention to my surroundings."

Tucker's eyes, now covered by thick-framed glasses, widened. "A human saw you?!"

Danny held up a hand to stop him. "Here's the thing. I think it was that same human girl I met when I was a guppy," he told his best friend.

Tucker stared at Danny in disbelief. "Dude, do you have any idea how small the odds are that it was the same human? Maybe you've been spending too much time in the moonlight."

"Tucker, I'm not kidding. I'm pretty sure she was the same one. I saw her earlier today too. It had to be her."

Tucker grabbed Danny's shoulders and shook him. "Are you listening to yourself? You were seen by a human and you're not freaking out?! It's not even the beginning of the semester and you're already endangering yourself!"

"Quit it, Tuck!"

Tucker let go of Danny and the two walked back to the clock shop. "Seriously, man, if anyone found out about us, no one is safe. We could swim to the deepest depths of the ocean and the humans would still find us."

~0~0~0~

Sam and Valerie groggily went to their first class the following morning. It was English class. Sam was surprised that there was still so much English and literature schools could still teach them. As if she didn't learn enough in high school.

Sam's major was environmental science. After meeting Danny when she was ten years old, Sam became more aware of helping the environment. She not only wanted to help save the oceans, she wanted to save the whole planet one piece of trash at a time.

"Hey, there's that cute guy from the clock shop again," said Valerie. Sam looked up and saw that the same boy from yesterday was sitting in their English classroom. He wore baggy jeans, red sneakers and a red and white t-shirt. Another unfamiliar boy was sitting next to him fiddling with a PDA. He had dark skin with teal eyes hidden behind thick-framed glasses. He wore a yellow shirt, cargo pants, and hiking boots.

"Should we sit next to them?" Valerie asked.

Sam shrugged. "I guess. I don't see why not."

The two friends sat down next to the newcomers. "You two new here?" Valerie asked the boys, trying to initiate a conversation.

Both of them looked up and stared at the girls. They looked at each other before looking back at them.

"We transferred here," said the black-haired boy.

"We're from Hawaii," said the dark skinned boy. "I'm Tucker by the way. Tucker Foley. TF for Too Fine," he added flirtatiously.

Valerie held in a giggle. Sam rolled her eyes. "Save your breath. You're not my type," she drawled.

The black-haired boy chuckled. "Looks like you got burned, Tuck. I'm Daniel Fenton. Just Daniel."

The girls giggled.

"I'm Valerie Gray."

"I'm Sam Manson."

Daniel looked up when Sam said her name. He quickly covered his surprise with a goofy grin. "Nice to meet you, Valerie and Sam. Do you think you can give us a tour of campus when class is over? We just got here yesterday so we don't really know our way around the place."

Sam smiled. "Sure. What's your schedule like?"

"After English, I have math at eleven and then philosophy at two. That's just for today. Tomorrow I have 20th Century history and astronomy," said Daniel.

"What's your major?"

"Astronomy."

"What about you, Tucker? What's your major?" Valerie asked.

"I'm majoring in computer science," Tucker replied. "After this, I have calculus, and then communications."

Sam smirked. "So, I'm guessing you two have to take a lot of science in order to do what you want to do?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah. I've already done two math classes, chemistry and physics. Those were not easy."

Tucker snorted. "Yeah. He practically lived in the tutoring center for the past two years." Danny playfully punched Tucker in the arm.

"Yeah, now it's your turn," Daniel quipped.

"So where did you guys transfer from?" asked Valerie.

"Leviathan University," they said together.

"Never heard of it," said Valerie.

"It's in Hawaii. There's so many islands there it's hard to keep track of the colleges," Tucker lied quickly. He wasn't going to mention that their college was located under water in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

An out-of-shape professor came into the room. "Good morning, everyone. I'm Professor Lancer. We'll be reading classic literature, poetry and short stories. Pass the syllabus around so we can get started."

Daniel and Tucker groaned. This was going to be a long day…

~0~0~0~

Everyone's schedules were different. Sam didn't get out of classes till after three-thirty. She walked around campus, knowing that Valerie wouldn't get off of work till the evening.

"Sam!"

She looked around and saw Daniel running toward her. "Hey Daniel. How was your first day of classes?" she asked.

Danny shrugged. "Eh, okay I guess. Philosophy was a complete snore."

"Yeah. The professor who teaches it makes people fall asleep literally," said Sam.

"Well, I got a good nap out of it," said Daniel, making Sam smile at his little joke. "I wasn't joking."

"So, ready to have a tour of the place?"

Daniel bowed and allowed Sam to go on ahead. "Ladies first. Lead the way, tour guide."

Sam smiled as she led Daniel across campus. "Might as well start with the business building since we're standing in front of it. Every class related to business and economics is held here. One time the basement in the English and Literature building flooded so all classes had to be held here."

"Wow. How did that happen?"

"Science Club had to hold their meeting there because the science building was going under renovations."

Danny then noticed a poster on a bulletin board. A man with silver hair was on the poster inviting students to come visit his seminar on Saturday. Danny paled at the sight of this man. He was the same human who tried to capture him when he was young.

"S-S-Sam? Who is that?" Danny asked in a whimper.

Sam looked at the poster and scowled at it. She yanked the poster off the bulletin board and ripped it up into little pieces. She then threw it all in a nearby recycling bin. "He's a seriously crazed up fruit loop. That's who he is!" she growled.

Danny was startled at Sam's behavior. "Okay but who is he? What's his name?"

"Why do you want to know?" Sam snapped. "All he cares about is how he's going to earn his next million dollars or something like that. Did you know that he caught one of the remaining purple back gorillas and sold it to the Amity Park Zoo for $3 million?"

Danny was going to ask what a purple back gorilla was but decided against it. "Is he that bad?"

"He acts like he cares but he doesn't," Sam snarled.

"And his name?"

Sam sighed in defeat. "Vlad Masters is his name. Gaining power is his game," she drawled.

Danny lifted an eyebrow. "How does he gain power?"

"Captures endangered animals and sells them to the highest bidder. I just told you that!" Sam exclaimed in frustration. She had no idea why Daniel was so insistent on learning about this creep.

Danny took a step back. "Sorry. I didn't mean to pry. You just went from mildly cheerful to completely sour. What did this Vlad Masters do to you that was so horrible?"

Sam lowered her head so her bangs covered her face. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she grumbled.

"Try me."

Sam just turned her back to Daniel and ran off. "Forget it."

"Sam! Wait!" Danny tried to run after her but he was still getting used to his human legs. As a result, it made him a slow runner. Danny easily lost sight of Sam as he tried to catch up with her. Judging by the way she reacted to his questions, Danny had no doubt in his mind – and possibly his heart – that Sam was indeed that beautiful violet-eyed human girl he once knew.

* * *

**Another chapter down!**

**Yeah, Danny will be addressed as Daniel as a human...at least until Sam figures out his identity.  
**

**I hope you like the song I picked out! I do not own it. It rightfully belongs to Frank Sinatra and his songwriters. Yesterday was Frank Sinatra's birthday so I guess I picked it out in his honor. :) Call me old fashioned but I grew up listening to him (thanks to my dad).  
**

**Keep reviewing! Thanks!  
**


	5. Crush

**I'm so glad ya'll are loving this! It makes me happy to know that you guys are following this story like bloodhounds!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Crush**

Vlad Masters was sitting in his manor looking through some old mythology books he'd collected in his college youth. One of the books he was looking through was on mermaids. He still remembered in college that he'd met a beautiful mermaid named Maddie who was acting on rebellious streak and talking to humans at the time. He fell in love with her and wanted her to live with him on land. Unfortunately, Maddie only saw him as a really good friend and was in love with another who turned out to be a great big oaf. Vlad tried to tell Maddie that she'd live happier on land but she wouldn't hear of it.

Vlad flipped through the pages of his book on mermaids. After his encounter with the black-tailed merboy eleven years ago, Vlad had been determined to catch the boy again and expose him to the scientific community.

He looked through the pages of mermaid breeds and found what he was looking for. The boy he almost caught was a breed of merfolk known simply as _Phantasma __Nereiorum Formant_ or "Phantom Merman", the rarest of them all. They're called that due to the fact they're the most elusive of their kind. Their most common features consisted of their black tails and matching fins, snow-white hair and glowing green eyes. It seemed that only one was born every century regardless of what breed they were born into, according to the book.

Vlad also read that the Phantom Merman were natural born fighters. Not only did they have the endurance of a rock, they could perform magic without reciting incantations, similar to what a Cecaelia (half-human, half-octopus) was capable of doing. What made the Phantom Merman the most powerful breed was its wail, capable to sinking ships by it alone.

For the past eleven years Vlad had been searching for the Phantom Merman nonstop. So far nothing. How Samantha Manson was able to see and meet one was something Vlad would never know. After banning Samantha from his beach manor, the black tailed merboy never appeared again, much to Vlad's frustration. When he read that merfolk could walk on land starting from age eighteen, Vlad figured the boy would return. All he had to do was wait.

~0~0~0~

Sam nibbled on some peanut-butter crackers as she walked down the beach that night. Daniel's questions still bugged her. She hated being reminded of the past, especially painful memories. She still remembered how scared Danny looked when she first found him tangled in that net. The memory of explaining how some of the junk he found in the water worked made her smile. It made her wonder how much he might have learned since their little encounter. It also made her wonder how much he might have changed. If that was him from last night…

Sam stopped dead in her tracks when she heard that same familiar voice from the other night singing.

"_Why do I keep running from the truth?_

_All I ever think about is you_

_You got me hypnotized, so mesmerized _

_And I've just got to know…"_

It was the same boy from before. He was sitting on the same rocks, looking at the moon that was in the process of waning. Not wanting to scare him again, Sam quietly slipped her boots off her feet so they wouldn't make any noise.

"_Do you ever think when you're all alone_

_All that we can be, where this thing can go?_

_Am I crazy or falling in love?_

_Is it real or just another crush?_

_Do you catch your breath when I look at you?_

_Are you holding back like the way you do?_

'_Cause I'm trying and trying to walk away_

_But I know this crush ain't goin' away-ay-ay-ay-ayy_

_Goin' away-ay-ay-ay-ayy"_

Sam decided to take a chance and took a step closer. She had no idea that merfolk knew music from today's pop culture. Then again, maybe he heard it from someone's radio on the beach or from someone's boat. Yeah, that seemed to be a logical explanation.

"H-Hello?" Sam called quietly. The boy yelped and turned around to see who interrupted him. Sam got a good look at him this time. The moonlight made his entire body glow in a white aura. His snow-white hair was tied in a messy ponytail in the back. Black and white fins were sticking out of his head where his ears would normally be. His frightened neon green eyes glowed almost as brightly as the moon. He had a rather scrawny build despite the small hint of a six-pack on his abdomen. Black and white fins, surrounded by matching scales, were sticking out of his forearms as well as one going down his back. His hands were webbed along with some patches of black and white scales. His tail was midnight black and the fin on the end was white. All in all, he looked like something straight from a painting Sam would find in an art museum.

Sam took a step closer. "Remember me? From last night?" she asked cautiously.

"I'm looking for someone," he mumbled. He then made a huge leap from the rock he was sitting on and landed in the water with a loud splash.

Sam stared at the water rippling where the merman landed in the water. His voice sounded so familiar but there was also an echo in it. He sounded lonely; like he longed to meet someone he missed.

"_I'm looking for someone."_

Those words kept echoing in Sam's head. Who was he looking for? She knew in her gut that he was waiting for her. So why did he keep swimming away when she tried to approach him? Was he scared of her? Sam had to figure out how to approach him without scaring him away. If he was whom Sam thought he was…

~0~0~0~

Danny swam off after giving Sam his hint. For over a decade, he'd suppressed how he felt about this girl. He couldn't deny it any longer. What started as an innocent crush blossomed into something Danny couldn't describe. He knew that that girl was the Sam he remembered but he had to make sure. If she was the girl he met as a child, then she'd still have the treasure bottle he'd given her.

Danny broke the surface under the dock where Clockwork, in his human disguise, was waiting for him.

"She's not stupid. Sooner or later she'll figure it out," Clockwork predicted as he handed Danny a towel to dry off. "What will you do then?"

"What do you mean what will I do?" Danny asked as he dried his hair. "Then I guess we pick up where we left off or something like that. I haven't really thought it through."

"Do you think she'll accept you as you are?"

"Beats me. She seemed pretty upset today after seeing a picture of _him_," Danny replied, adding extra emphasis on the last word. "I think that's the only reason why she hasn't forgotten."

Clockwork nodded, knowing whom Danny was talking about. "He wants your mother," he told the boy.

"I know the story," said Danny as he willed his human legs to appear. "After what happened, Mom told me that she used to go to the surface and spy on the humans from afar even though we're forbidden to. She met Vlad and he fell in love with her but she was in love with Dad."

"And Vlad didn't take it well," Clockwork continued. "He wanted to get rid of your father so he could have Madeline to himself. Fortunately, your mother and father were already on their way to the Hawaiian Islands to be married. A clichéd destination to get married if you ask me."

"So what you're saying is that I should watch my back?" asked Danny. "And that I should consider getting married somewhere that is not Hawaii?"

Clockwork smiled and gestured the boy to follow him back to the clock shop.

~0~0~0~

The rest of the week went by in a blur. The four friends got bombarded with so much homework they didn't have time to hang out that much. Add the fact that Danny and Tucker didn't get off work until seven at night made things frustrating for them. Danny was too tired to even go swimming and see if he would see Sam again. Unfortunately, Sam was also bombarded with homework so she couldn't even go to the beach either.

"I can't believe how much homework Lancer gave us this week," Daniel complained. He, Tucker, Sam and Valerie were sitting in the library working on homework.

"I'll say," Tucker agreed. "I thought Dick was a slave driver but Lancer takes the cake. How does he expect us to write a paper on Shakespeare by Monday? He just gave us this assignment today."

"We've only known him for a week and I can already tell he's gonna be one of those teachers who suck the fun out of everything," Daniel muttered.

"Glad I'm not the only one who get that impression," said Sam. "I think he read _Brave New World_ one too many times. I don't think he respects individuality."

"Is that why you're Goth?" asked Tucker.

"And an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian," Sam added proudly.

"Which is what?"

"She doesn't eat anything with a face on it," Valerie explained.

"Not even fish?" asked Daniel. "They're technically not a meat. I don't know why but they're not."

"If it has a face, I won't eat it," Sam said resolvedly.

"You've been missing out," said Tucker. His cell phone started vibrating. "Excuse me." He walked away to answer his phone. Both boys were excited to finally get cell phones after learning about them. They worked better than they thought. Tucker seemed to be the most fascinated with human technology. He already learned how to e-mail, surf the Internet, and even hack into a computer.

"So, today's Friday. What do you wanna do?" Daniel asked Sam and Valerie.

"I don't know about you but I have work to do," said Valerie. "I work from four to nine. My schedule is full."

"Where do you work?" asked Daniel.

"The Nasty Burger."

Sam shuddered at the name. "The greasiest, most disgusting place on the planet. It makes McDonald's look like Panera Bread."

Tucker came back. "Clo – I mean, Dick called. He needs us to work at the shop tonight."

Daniel groaned. "On a Friday night? He can't give us a break?"

Tucker shrugged. "Don't know what to tell you, man. We can't argue with him."

Daniel's head landed on the table. "Why us?"

"Because he's giving you a roof over your heads and food in your stomachs. So the least you can do is work in his shop," Sam answered for Tucker.

"Aw, come on!" Tucker whined. "I hate it when people put me on guilt trips."

~0~0~0~

Sam decided to walk Daniel and Tucker to the clock shop, mainly out of curiosity. She'd heard about the shop but never bothered to go in, probably because she already had a clock.

"You can come in if you want," Danny offered as he held open the door.

"Are you sure? I don't want to impose," said Sam.

"You wouldn't be imposing. We hardly get any customers anyway. Besides, it would be nice to talk to someone other than Tucker or Dick," said Danny.

"I heard that!" Tucker yelled from inside.

Daniel was about to walk in when Sam stopped him.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" she asked him.

"Sure. What's up?"

Sam hesitated before speaking. "Look, I haven't had a chance to talk to you since classes have gotten in the way. I wanted to apologize for Monday. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you."

Daniel paused for a moment. "That's okay. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have badgered you with all those questions. I'm not that good with people," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"So, we're cool?" asked Sam.

Daniel smiled. "Yeah, we're cool. So, wanna come inside for a few minutes?"

Sam smiled too. "Okay. Maybe for a few minutes."

The two of them entered the shop. The place was full of clocks from top to bottom. Most of them were old grandfather clocks or cuckoo clocks. The front counter was a display case full of wristwatches and pocket watches. The whole place smelled like dead fish for some strange reason.

"Wow. I knew Mr. Tock was into clocks but I didn't know he was passionate about them," said Sam.

"You should see the loft upstairs," said Tucker. "There's plenty where these came from."

"He has more upstairs?" asked Sam.

"It's his private collection," Daniel explained.

Mr. Tock came downstairs, wearing sunglasses for the blind and was carrying a stick to guide him. Danny and Tucker knew that the blind man act was a cover and that those accessories were just part of his disguise.

"Are you a customer?" Mr. Tock asked. Before Sam could answer Mr. Tock added, "I heard your voice upstairs. That's how I knew."

"Uh…I'm a friend from school," Sam answered nervously. "I was curious about where Danny and Tucker lived and worked so I came along. I hope I'm not being a bother."

Mr. Tock gave her a friendly smile. "It's nice to know that these two are finally making friends with people other than themselves," he said, earning him a pair of scowls from his employees. "I'm Richard Tock, owner of this humble establishment."

Sam shook his hand. "I'm Sam Manson."

"Manson? As in 'Manson Cellophane Toothpicks'?"

Sam blushed. "Yeah. The same one."

Tock smiled. "Very nice," he said. He turned to Tucker and gave him a slip of paper. "Mr. Foley, here's a grocery list of everything we need for dinner tonight. Go to the supermarket and get them."

Tucker groaned. "I went yesterday."

"And Daniel went shopping to buy me lunch today, therefore it's your turn to do the shopping," Tock countered. Tucker sighed in defeat and marched out of the store grumbling. Tock turned to Daniel and Sam. "I'll be upstairs if you need me." And he returned upstairs.

"He's not as bad as I thought he'd be," Sam commented.

"Yeah but he's a real slave driver. He's always working us to the bone. By closing time we're too tired to even do our homework," Daniel complained loud enough for Dick to hear.

"Yeah, I know. I saw you sweeping outside the shop the day before the term started," said Sam.

Daniel rested his head on the counter. "Who sweeps outside a shop anyway these days? We don't even have a patio or a front porch."

Sam smiled. "At least it keeps you busy. I have too much time on my hands."

"You want to work for Tock too?"

Sam laughed. "I don't think this job fits me."

Daniel laughed too. "Yeah. You have to be really good with your hands. I'm kind of getting the hang of it but I'm still not that good."

"You've had experience with tinkering?"

"I've been building model rockets in my spare time," Daniel explained humbly.

"Daniel! Does Samantha want to stay for dinner?" Mr. Tock called.

Daniel looked at Sam for an answer. "Sure. I'll stay. Val won't get off of work till late so I have time on my hands," she said.

"Yeah! Sam says she'll stay!" Daniel called upstairs.

"Very well!"

Sam looked at Daniel. "I told him my name was Sam. Why is he calling me by my real name?"

"He always does that. You'll get used to it."

"I better. No one but my advisor calls me Samantha."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "What about your parents?"

"I've given up on correcting them a long time ago," Sam sighed. "No matter how much I tried, they won't listen."

"Gee, that must be frustrating," Daniel muttered.

"You have no idea!" Sam exclaimed. "They told me 'Sam' is too masculine for a lady like me."

Daniel laughed. "Seriously?! They actually told you that?"

"Word per word," Sam confirmed.

Daniel calmed down. "Alright. Follow me upstairs. It's pretty obvious that we won't have any customers tonight."

* * *

**Yes, the title of this story is Latin for Phantom Merman. You can thank Google Translate for that. ;)**

**"Crush" does not belong to me. It belongs to David Archuleta and his songwriters.  
**

**Keep the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School in your thoughts and prayers. No one should experience this kind of evil around this time of year. God bless the victims and their families.  
**


	6. Turn of Events

**This is more popular than I thought! It's nice to know that you guys are enjoying this!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Turn of Events**

When Tucker came back with the groceries, Sam offered to help make dinner to make things easier for everyone. While she hated the fact that the men wanted to have hamburgers instead of veggie burgers, she decided to tolerate it since she was a guest (and the fact that Tucker bought a veggie burger in case Sam decided to stay for dinner). After eating, Sam helped them clean up, though she was curious as to why Daniel and Tucker were wearing rubber gloves while rinsing the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.

"Nice aquarium," Sam complimented as she looked at the fish swimming in a fish tank in the living room. "Angelfish, tetra, koi and a crab. Nice."

Daniel blinked. "You're familiar with these little guys?" he asked.

"I used to go to the aquarium all the time when I was a little kid. I learned a lot about fish when I went there. I guess that's why I'm majoring in environmental science. I love seeing so many sea creatures. I want to learn more about them, maybe save an endangered species like the blue whale," said Sam. Well, that was only half of the truth. The other half was because of a certain friend she met long ago…

"You sound really passionate about sea life," Daniel noted.

Sam blushed. "Do I? It's not just sea life. I want to do better for the environment, land and sea."

Daniel smiled. "I hope you achieve that goal."

"Daniel," Tock walked in. "It's getting late. Samantha needs to return to campus."

Daniel nodded. "I'll walk her there."

The two put their shoes on and left the shop to return to Amity University.

"So what made you want to pursue astronomy?" asked Sam.

Daniel shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I've always been fascinated with the stars and planets. I loved stargazing when I was little. I always hoped I'd see a UFO or something really cool in the sky. Meteor showers were my favorite. I always wondered where the falling stars landed. I wanted to take one home with me. I'd be the coolest kid in school, I thought."

Sam smiled. "That's a really cute story. Now that you've mentioned it, now I'm wondering where falling stars land if they ever do at all."

Daniel chuckled.

"Hey Fen-turd!" Both of them stopped walking and turned and saw Dash wobbling toward them. "I'm gonna pound your face in and stab you with…a butter knife!" It was quite clear that Dash was very drunk.

Sam pulled out her cell phone and started recording Dash's movements. "Behold. Amity University's starring quarterback. This is the guy who told the freshmen to not drink until they're twenty-one."

"Hey, look! I'm one TV!" Dash slurred, waving to Sam's camera phone. "Hi, Mom!"

Sam smirked. "This is gold. I love having blackmail material against the A-Listers."

Dash advanced toward Sam, his lips puckered up. "How about a kiss, Sammy?"

While Sam tried keeping Dash away from her, Danny looked around for something to fight Dash off. The raven-haired boy spotted a fire hydrant. Danny's eyes flashed green as he focused on the hydrant. Neither human noticed what he was doing. They didn't notice that the fire hydrant started shaking. Water burst out of the fire hydrant, hitting Dash and knocking him off his feet. Daniel grabbed Sam's wrist and they both started running towards campus.

"That's strangely convenient," Sam noted.

"I know. What are the odds?" Daniel replied nonchalantly. The two made it to the front door of the dorm building. "Well, I take it that you can get to your dorm from here?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for walking me back."

Daniel blushed. "No problem. Anytime really."

"So…" Sam started awkwardly. "See you on Monday?"

Daniel's blush deepened. "Uh…you can drop by the shop anytime you want…if that's okay," he stuttered.

Sam blushed too. "Thanks. I think…I'll take you up on that offer," she said. The Goth then disappeared into the building.

~0~0~0~

The following morning, Sam woke up and saw that Valerie was dead asleep. Not wanting to wake her, Sam quietly got dressed, munched down a breakfast bar, brushed her teeth, left Val a note about where she was going, and left the dorm.

The clock shop was closed and Sam didn't have Daniel or Tucker's cell phone numbers. She saw the store's phone number printed on the window and dialed it.

"Tick Tock Clock Shop. How may I help you?"

"Mr. Tock? It's Sam Manson from last night."

"Miss Manson. I take it you're calling for Daniel," Tock assumed.

"Yeah. Is he in?" Sam asked.

"I'm sorry, Samantha, but Daniel and Tucker are out today. I don't know where they went," he answered.

"Do you have any idea where they are?"

"Perhaps you should try the pier. Isn't that where college students go to socialize?" Tock asked.

"Good idea. I'll start there. Thanks, Mr. Tock," said Sam.

"You're very welcome, Samantha."

Sam ended her call and took a cab to the pier. True to Mr. Tock's words, the pier was the main off-campus hangout for college students. The pier was already packed. Several college students were already walking, browsing, and shopping in the multiple shops. Sam spent a good hour and a half looking for Daniel and Tucker…mainly Daniel. There was something about him that made Sam feel warm inside. She felt like she could trust him with her life.

She shook her head. _'Get a hold of yourself, Sam! You don't have time for a relationship. You need to focus on getting your college degree. Besides, you remember the last time you dated a guy. He ended up to be a complete phony.'_ She bumped into the last person she wanted to see.

"Watch where you're going, Goth freak," Paulina snarled.

Sam scowled. "I never thought I'd see you in the morning hours of the day. What's the matter? Didn't sleep with someone who wasn't Dash?"

Paulina's jaw dropped in shock. No one insulted Paulina Sanchez and got away with it. "At least guys actually look at me. The only guys who look at you are those two transfer losers and the chess club."

"Well Daniel and Tucker look at me like a person. Dash and everyone else you've slept with look at you like you're from a porn magazine," Sam retorted.

Paulina looked at Sam in shock and slapped her in the face. The Latina snapped her fingers and her entire clique surrounded the Goth.

~0~0~0~

Danny and Tucker went swimming early that morning. After a hard first week of classes, the boys agreed that they deserved a nice swim to unwind. Danny couldn't get last night out of his head. That was the longest he'd ever spent with Sam. He wanted to tell her who and what he really was but Clockwork told him that revealing his true identity could be a risky move.

"Hello? Earth to Danny?" Tucker called, waving his hand in front of his best friend's face.

"Huh? Sorry. My mind was elsewhere," Danny answered.

"I said that I noticed that you've been acting rather quiet all morning," said Tucker. "Thinking about Sam?"

Danny blushed. "No! Why would I think about her?"

"Because you've been thinking about her for over a decade?" Tucker guessed.

"I have not!"

"Have too!" Tucker teased.

"Have NOT!" Danny then tackled Tucker and the two wrestled playfully. "I have not been thinking about Sam for over a decade!"

"Admit it, fish boy! You like her!" Tucker taunted.

"Forget it, Ink-For-Brains!" Danny taunted back.

Tucker pinned Danny down with his six tentacles. "One…two…three! I win!" Tucker exclaimed triumphantly.

"Only because I let you win!"

"Because you were too busy thinking about Sam," Tucker teased.

"Shut up!"

Tucker let his best friend up. Something then caught his eye…or rather _someone_. What appeared to be a body suddenly landed in the water and was slowly descending to the bottom of the ocean.

"Dude! Human at one o' clock!" Tucker warned. Both swam away as fast as they could but Danny stopped himself when he realized that he recognized the human. It was Sam!

"Tucker! Wait!" Danny called out to his best friend but Tucker was too far away to hear. Danny cursed and went back to help Sam, who at this point was unconscious. _'You helped me. Now it's my turn.'_ He grabbed hold of her and started swimming towards the beach where he and Tucker surfaced earlier that week.

Danny suddenly got that nagging feeling that something was following him. He turned his head and saw a familiar metal creature following him. Images of that same creature chasing him as a child flashed in his mind. This thing was after him again. Instinct took over the merboy as one of his webbed hands started to glow green. With one arm around Sam's torso, Danny fired a beam of energy from his free hand. The energy beam destroyed the metal creature in one hit.

Danny was bewildered at what just happened. He'd been able to make his hands glow with energy but was never able to fire it. Then he remembered how he escaped the humans before. The energy from his hands burned a hole in the net that held him captive. If his guess was correct then his primal instincts were what triggered these energy blasts. He held Sam tighter and continued heading towards the rendezvous beach.

~0~0~0~

Vlad watched the monitor go blank. He gripped the computer mouse so hard it actually broke into several pieces. He knew that the Phantom Merman would eventually return if he kept a close eye on Samantha Manson. He could tell the boy held a certain fondness towards the girl. Vlad was confused. The Phantom Merman was supposed to be the most elusive of his kind, rarely seen by anyone. This was the first time in years since he'd seen it and it made him wonder why the boy was so close to the shore and near humans.

"It doesn't make sense," Vlad said to himself. "The Phantom Merman should never associate itself with humans, unless…" A thought struck Vlad and he ran to his bookshelf and pulled out one of his research books. He flipped through several pages until he found what he was looking for:

"_While many merfolk no longer associate themselves with humans, some occasionally use their ability to grow legs to walk on land in search of a mate. Finding merfolk on land is considered difficult since their human appearances are very different from their true forms." _

"So, he's returned to claim Miss Manson as his mate, has he? Well, perhaps I could use this chance to my advantage," Vlad said to himself.

~0~0~0~

Valerie woke up to find Sam gone. She wasn't too concerned since a note was left behind explaining where she went. Valerie got dressed, brushed her teeth and left her dorm to find her roommate. Val decided to start from the first place she knew Sam liked to go to over the weekend: the pier.

"Did you see the way she looked when we pushed her over the docks?"

"I don't know, Paulina. I still think that was a teeny weenie bit harsh."

Valerie turned her head and saw Paulina and her clique walking in her direction. They were giggling about something that Valerie had a bad feeling about.

"Paulina? What's going on?" Valerie asked.

The Latina sneered. "Why do you want to know, loser?"

"Because knowing you, you've done something that requires asking one of us 'losers' to get you out of trouble. And if I refuse to give in to your demands you'll blackmail me with something incriminating and I'll have no choice but to give in," Valerie predicted.

"What makes you think that I'll ask you for help?" Paulina sneered.

"Remember freshman year when you threw toilet paper all over the dean's office and you asked the science club to clean it up before the dean came back from his vacation?" Valerie asked.

"How was I supposed to know that the janitor locks up the dean's office on Friday nights?" Paulina defended.

"My point exactly," said Valerie. "You need the 'losers' to clean up your messes. Now what were you laughing about?"

Paulina looked at Star before looking at Valerie again. "We threw your loser Goth friend over the pier," Paulina said innocently.

"YOU WHAT?!" Valerie screamed.

"Do you think we're, like, in trouble or something?" asked Star. "She didn't come up."

Valerie immediately pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911. "You numbskulls better pray she's still alive," she growled.

~0~0~0~

"Whew! I think we're in the clear," said Tucker as he finally slowed down to catch his breath. "Close call, huh, Danny?" There was no response. "Danny?" Tucker looked around to find that his best friend was not with him. "Danny! Where are you?"

Tucker swam back to where he last saw his best friend. He looked around for any trace of Danny or the human who came into the water. The octopus boy noticed some scrap metal lying in the sand of the ocean floor. Tucker didn't need to use magic to know that this was one of those undersea metal creatures that humans had created. He remembered that one of them almost captured Danny eleven years ago when he went to the surface to see Sam.

Tucker sifted through the debris to find anything that could point to him where Danny went. He noticed a purple and black wallet amongst the debris and picked it up. He paled when he opened the wallet and saw whose driver's license it was. He swam to the underside of the deck to find someone who could help him without revealing too much about himself.

* * *

**Huzzah! I have done it! Keep reading, folks! There's some DxS fluff coming next! Stay tuned!**


	7. Reunion

**Lots of fluff in this chapter, folks! You can't imagine how many times I've pictured this scene in my head!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Reunion**

A roll of thunder was heard even at the bottom of the ocean. Not wanting to endanger Sam more, Danny took her to a nearby cave instead to shelter her from the rain until it cleared up. He could hear water dripping from the stalagmites from within the depths of the cave. The place was dark and damp but it would have to do.

Danny gently placed Sam on the dry ground. He leaned down and put his fin-like ear next to her face but couldn't hear her breathe. He felt her neck for a pulse like how Clockwork taught him and felt a faint pulse coming from the Goth. Remembering the CPR lessons Clockwork taught him and Tucker during their spare time, Danny started pumping Sam's chest to get the water out of her.

Water erupted from Sam's mouth as she coughed herself back to life. Surprised, Danny dove back into the water and waited for her to calm down. She vomited some of the seawater out of her system as her breathing became regular again. She took several deep breaths before she finally calmed down. By then it was raining cats and dogs outside.

~0~0~0~

Sam took in her surroundings. She was definitely not at the pier anymore. She then remembered that she was pushed from the pier by Paulina's cronies. _'How did I wind up here? I should be dead.'_ She heard a splash coming from the mouth of the cave and her purse was suddenly thrown from the water and landed in front of her. Sam quickly grabbed it and went through it to make sure everything was still there. Unfortunately, her wallet was missing and her cell phone was heavily water-damaged. _'There goes my blackmail.'_ Sam was relieved that her treasure bottle was still in there too.

Another splash was heard, getting the girl's attention. "Who's there?" she called out in alarm.

"I'm…I'm glad to see…that you're…okay…" a voice said hesitantly. For a moment Sam thought it was Daniel talking but it couldn't be him. This voice had more of an echo in it though it might have been the cave doing that.

"Show yourself!" Sam ordered. A head of white hair popped up from the ledge. "All the way!" The head rose until Sam could see a face. Her eyes widened when she saw that she was staring at a pair of glowing green eyes. Fin-like ears were poking out of his white hair that was tied in a ponytail. "It's you…" Sam gasped.

He smiled happily at her. "Thank Poseidon you're okay," he said in relief. "I was afraid I was too late."

Sam composed herself and smiled a little. "Yeah. I thought I was a goner."

"You had water in your lungs. I managed to get it out but you might need to see a doctor just in case," said Danny.

"How did you do it?"

"I learned how to do human resuscitation. I just never thought I'd be able to use it."

"Glad you did learn it. I don't think I would have made it," said Sam. Danny lowered his head to hide his blush. "You can come out of the water if you want to."

Danny looked up at her. "Promise you won't…freak out at my appearance?" he asked shyly.

"I've seen you earlier this week. I promise I won't freak out," Sam assured him.

Danny hesitantly lifted himself out of the water, exposing the rest of himself to the human girl in front of him. He looked like he did when she saw him earlier that week. Now that Sam saw him during the day, she noticed that he looked scrawny but also had a bit of muscle in him.

Sam nodded. "It's good to finally see you again."

Danny nodded too. "Likewise. I've been wanting to see you again for the longest time." He brushed his fingers against her cheek causing Sam to shudder. "Cold?"

Sam gave him a reassuring smile. "No. Your hands. They feel slimy."

Danny blinked. "They do?"

"Yeah, but…I'm sure I'll get used to it," she assured him.

Danny smiled and looked down at Sam's purse. "I'm glad you brought it. I was wondering if you still kept it."

It took Sam a moment to understand what he was talking about. "Oh! You mean this?" she asked as she pulled out her treasure bottle.

Danny's face lit up. "You still have it! That girl I've seen at the beach; I knew it was you!"

"Yeah. That was me. I heard you singing. You're pretty good. No, not good. I don't have a word that describes how awesome you sound," said Sam. She opened the bottle and poured its contents on the sandy cave floor. She then pulled out the note and the trading cards and placed them with the rest of the stuff.

"I haven't thrown away any of the stuff you put in this bottle," Sam said proudly.

Danny picked up the pearl and held it in his hand. His felt his face turn dark red as he thought about what the pearl meant to his kind. He put it back in the bottle and continued fingering the other items. He now knew what they all were and he kind of felt silly for not knowing what they were in the first place.

"Hey, listen," Sam started, her tone suddenly serious. Danny turned to face her, wondering what happened to her slightly cheerful tone. "About what happened when we were kids, I'm sorry."

Danny tilted his head. "Sorry? For what? You didn't do anything wrong then."

"You were almost taken away by Mr. Masters because he used me to get to you," Sam explained. "If I knew that that was going to happen…"

"You didn't know that was going to happen. You shouldn't put the blame on yourself," Danny reasoned. "I should have listened to my parents when they told me to stay away from the surface."

"Are you kidding?" Sam asked. "That was the most memorable summer I've ever had. Because of you I'm now majoring in environmental science in college now. Besides, after what happened I was afraid that you'd hate humans."

"Well, that man gave me a good reason to be afraid of humans," said Danny. He saw her cringe. "But you're the first human I've ever met and the kindest so you can't all be that bad."

Sam blushed. Hearing that made her heart do a back flip. Not even Elliot could do that. Still, there was something about Danny that seemed oddly familiar…

Her train of thought was broken when she noticed that Danny was carefully moving her hair out of her face. He immediately pulled his hand away in alarm.

"Sorry!" he apologized.

Sam shook her head. "No. It's okay. It will help me…get used to the…texture of your skin," she stuttered, trying not to insult her savior. She kicked herself mentally. _'Could I sound any more like an airhead? Stupid!'_ She looked away so he wouldn't see how embarrassed she was.

Danny gently turned her head back to him. This time Sam managed to hold in the shudder. "Am I scaring you?" he asked worriedly.

Sam might have been able to hold in the shuddering but she couldn't hold back the blush that was slowly taking over her face. "N-N-No! Of course not," she stuttered. "I'm j-just not much of a talker." It was true. Alone, Sam was not much of a conversationalist. When she met Valerie, she became more open little by little. It took her a good chunk of the first semester of freshman year for her to open up to Valerie.

Danny cupped her cheek and gave her a reassuring look. "You can talk to me about anything, you know. I'll always be there to listen," he said to her.

Sam smiled at him again. Neither of them realized that they were slowly closing the gap between their faces. Danny suddenly stopped himself when he felt his ears twitch. He turned toward the mouth of the cave and back at Sam.

"Something wrong?" Sam asked him. He didn't respond. He dove back into the water without a word and was out of sight. "Wait! Come back!"

"Sam? Are you in here?" a familiar voice called out.

"Valerie? Is that you?" Sam answered.

"She's in here! I found her!" Valerie called to someone else. She and some lifeguards, police officers, and paramedics entered the cave. Valerie was the first to reach her. "Sam! Are you okay? When I heard what Paulina and her cronies did to you, I had to call for help," she explained hurriedly.

"I appreciate the gesture, Val, but I'm okay," Sam tried to assure her friend. Sam hated being taken care of. It made her feel weak and vulnerable.

"You fell into the water and didn't resurface. Girl, you need to be looked at," said Valerie. Knowing Val wouldn't let her return to campus without a proper checkup, Sam reluctantly allowed the paramedics to tend to her.

~0~0~0~

Danny's face was as red as a steamed lobster. He couldn't believe he almost let himself do something like _that_! And to Sam of all people! As much as he liked her, he wasn't sure if she liked him that way. For all Danny knew, Sam probably only liked him because he was part fish. _'No! Get real, Danny! Sam isn't like that.'_ His head broke the surface to find that it stopped raining. He looked around and saw Clockwork and Tucker waving him over at the shore. Danny quickly swam to them.

"You realize that you can't go to class on rainy days," said Clockwork as Tucker gave Danny a towel.

"Are you kidding?" asked Danny. "Getting the notes from the lectures on those days are going to be a challenge." His body became human when he was done drying. The three then walked back to the clock shop.

"How are you going to tell Samantha your identity?" Clockwork asked Danny. "She will figure it out eventually."

"How do you know?" asked Danny.

Clockwork chuckled. "I know everything."

"Then surely you know how she's gonna figure it out," said Danny.

"I do but you know I'm not allowed to tell you."

Tucker placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Tough break, dude."

Danny nodded when he saw something in Tucker's pocket. "What's that, Tuck?"

Tucker looked at where Danny was looking and pulled out a black and purple wallet from his pocket. "I found it as it started raining. What was it doing at the bottom of the ocean anyway?"

"That human who fell into the water, that was Sam," said Danny.

"That was Sam?"

"Yeah. I don't know how she fell into the water but she did," Danny said as they walked into the clock shop.

"You should ask Miss Sanchez," said Clockwork. "She has a history of trouble and getting away with it."

Tucker did a double take. "Paulina? But she's the hottest girl on campus!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Tuck, I have philosophy with her. She texted on her phone during the lecture and kept on doing it after the professor told her to quit it."

Clockwork agreed. "She's not that bright either," he added.

Danny nodded. "I know. She thought Aristotle and Socrates were brothers. Can you believe it? Brothers!"

Clockwork shook his head. "Aristotle and Socrates were friends, not brothers. Where she came up with that idea even I don't know."

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but she's hot! That's gotta count for something, right?"

Clockwork looked at the octopus boy with a half-lidded stare. "You remind me of a character on a television show, you know that?"

"Yeah. And?"

"You're just like him."

Danny snickered at Clockwork's insult.

The bell jingled as the front door opened, announcing that a customer had arrived. It was Valerie. "Daniel! Tucker! Thank God you guys are home!" she exclaimed.

"What's going on?" asked Daniel.

"It's Sam. She's been in an accident."

"An accident? What happened?" Daniel asked, concern evident in his voice. _'Did she get into an accident on the way back to campus?'_

Valerie held up her hands in defense. "Before you flip out, let me start by saying that she's alright. She's back at the dorm resting.

"I don't know the full story. Sam apparently bumped into Paulina at the pier. The two got into an argument and Sam said something that set Paulina off. I don't know what she said but it was enough for Paulina and her passé to gang up on Sam and throw her off the pier.

"She bragged about it to me and I called the cops. The coast guard helped out too. We looked for about two hours at least. We found her in an old cave about three miles from the pier. How she got there I don't know."

Daniel's jaw dropped. He had no idea that Paulina was capable of doing something like that. She didn't seem smart enough.

Tucker pulled out Sam's wallet. "I found this…uh…on the beach this morning. It has her driver's license in it."

Valerie took it. "Thank God you found it! She was worried it was gone for good. You just saved her from going to the DMV to get a new license. Thank you so much, Tucker," she said with a huge smile making Tucker blush.

Daniel snatched the wallet out of Valerie's hand and ran out of the shop.

"Daniel!" Mr. Tock called.

"Dude! Come back! It's starting to rain again!" Tucker called out.

~0~0~0~

A knock on the door woke Sam from a nap she was having shortly after coming back to campus. After being looked over by a doctor at the hospital, she was given the green light to go back.

"Coming," she yawned. She opened the door and woke right up. Vlad Masters and Sam's parents were standing in the hallway. "Mom? Dad? Mr. Masters? What are you guys doing here?"

Pamela Manson threw herself onto Sam and hugged and kissed her. "Oh, Sammy! Thank God you're all right! I was so scared!"

Sam struggled to free herself from her mother's iron grip. "I'm fine, Mom! Get off me! I can't breathe!"

Jeremy managed to break his wife away from their daughter and then he had his turn at hugging and kissing Sam, much to her chagrin.

"Vlad here heard what happened to you and your mother refused to calm down until we saw you with our own eyes," Jeremy explained to his daughter.

Sam's eyebrows went up. She looked at Vlad in surprise. How did he know about what happened at the pier? He always struck her as a selfish fruit loop.

"Ugh! I'm going to have to replace your purse," Pamela said, wrinkling her nose as she looked over Sam's waterlogged purse, dumping its contents on her desk. "Samantha Elizabeth Manson! Have you been drinking?"

Sam looked and saw that her mother was holding her treasure bottle. She ran over and snatched it out of her mother's hand. "Mom! Stay out of my things! I don't look through your purse!" she exclaimed.

Jeremy recognized the bottle and rolled his eyes. "She's telling the truth, Pam. That's that same filthy bottle she found on Vlad's private beach," he reminded his wife.

Pam sniffed. "I don't understand why she's still hanging onto that filthy piece of garbage," she muttered.

Vlad walked up to Sam. "Well Samantha, it seems you've had quite an adventure and it's only the first week of the semester," he chuckled.

Sam laughed nervously. "Yeah…heheheh…and it's not even Labor Day."

Another knock on the door interrupted their conversation before it even began. Sam went to answer it.

"Hey Sam," Daniel greeted. Several wet spots on his shirt showed that it was raining outside.

"Daniel? What are you doing here?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"Uh, Tucker found your wallet on the beach and I volunteered to bring it back," Daniel explained. "Everything seems to be there. I don't think anything was taken."

When Sam took the wallet she noticed what appeared to be a patch of dry skin on Daniel's hand. It seemed out of place since the rest of his hand looked normal.

"Sammy? Who is at the door?" asked Pamela.

* * *

**Hope you guys are enjoying this!**

**If any of this seems similar to any movies, books or TV shows, let me assure you that it's purely coincidental. Repeat: COINCIDENTAL! While editing this, that's when I notice the similarities. How did I miss them? I have no clue.  
**

**Anyway, keep reviewing so I can finish writing the next chapter and upload it.  
**


	8. Alternate Plan

**I've read a few MerDanny fanfics out there and I can't get over how popular mine is. While editing, I've noticed how similar this is to several other mermaid shows, movies, and/or books. How could I have not noticed?  
**

**There's a character from a different show that's going to play a minor role in this story. And by minor, I mean he'll hardly be mentioned. Can you guess who it is?  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Alternate Plan**

Vlad, Jeremy and Pamela followed Sam to the door and stared at her visitor. Jeremy and Pamela instantly disliked him while Vlad seemed rather intrigued by the boy.

"I didn't know they allowed lepers to attend school here," Pamela commented.

"MOTHER!" Sam yelled, appalled that her mother said such a thing (luckily Danny didn't have a clear idea what leprosy was). "I'm so sorry, Daniel. My mom doesn't mean that, right Mom?" she said through gritted teeth.

Daniel smiled. "It's okay. Don't worry about this. I must have brushed it up against something I'm allergic to. It will clear up," he said rather quickly.

Pamela sniffed. "Well, as long as it's not contagious…"

"Anyways," Sam said, "Daniel, these are my parents, Jeremy and Pamela, and this is their old friend, Vlad Masters. Mom, Dad, Mr. Masters, this is my friend Daniel Fenton. He lives with Mr. Tock at the clock shop down the street."

"Nice to meet you, Daniel," Jeremy said, shaking Daniel's hand while hiding his dislike for the boy. "Oh dear. Young man, I think you used a little too much skin lotion."

Daniel chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that. But it's better than shaking a hand with dry skin, right?"

Jeremy thought about it. "Well when you put it that way, I suppose it is."

Vlad looked down at the boy whose cheerful attitude died the moment they made eye contact. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Fenton," he said coldly. Either it was a coincidence that he had the same last name as that whale of a merman who took his Maddie away or Daniel was the son of Jack and Maddie Fenton. It didn't matter; Vlad automatically knew that this boy was a merman the moment Sam said his last name.

"Yeah…nice to meet you," Daniel said cautiously. "Sam's told me about you." There was no mistake. This was the man who tried to capture Danny as a child. Danny would have to be even more careful around this man. Hopefully he wouldn't notice the scales that were slowly fading away from his skin.

"Tell me, son, are your parents Jack and Maddie Fenton?" Vlad asked.

Daniel nodded. "Yeah, they're my parents."

Vlad held back a scowl before smiling. "Well that's good to hear. I knew your mother during my days in college. We got along quite well. Do tell her I said, 'hello'."

"I will," Daniel answered. He turned to Sam. "I gotta get going. Dick is going to wonder where I am."

"Okay. I'll see you Monday?" said Sam.

Daniel nodded and waved good-bye before leaving the dorm. Daniel's behavior puzzled Sam. His goofy, carefree attitude went out the window when he caught sight of Mr. Masters. Now that Sam thought about it, Daniel seemed pretty nervous when he saw that poster of Vlad on the first day of classes.

"Well, how about we all go out to dinner?" Pamela asked everyone.

~0~0~0~

Daniel ran as fast as his legs could carry him. The rain was falling harder than before. His human disguise was slowly fading away, revealing his true self. He dashed underneath every tree, roof and canopy he could find. He looked down and saw that some scales were becoming visible on his forearms. The fin on his left forearm was out and Danny looked at his reflection in a window of a closed store to see that his hair was slightly longer and salt-and-pepper in color. On closer inspection he saw two cuts on both sides of his neck; his gills were coming out.

"Time out!"

Raindrops froze in midair. Water stopped running down the gutters. A blue portal opened up and Clockwork, in his true form, stepped out. He put a medallion around Danny's neck.

"Huh? What the?" Danny sputtered.

"You really are clueless," Clockwork growled as he grabbed Danny by the arm and dragged him into the portal. "Time in!"

The next thing Danny knew, he was in Clockwork's study (the one place in the apartment where Danny and Tucker were forbidden to enter).

"Thanks for the save," Danny said gratefully.

"That was the most reckless thing I've ever witnessed in centuries!" Clockwork yelled. "I knew love was blind but in all my centuries I didn't know it was reckless too!"

"Love?!" Danny repeated in disbelief. "W-What makes you think that?"

"You took off into the rain, Daniel," Clockwork snapped. "What was the most important thing I told you when you came here?"

"No work and all play equal no pay?" Danny guessed.

"The other most important thing."

"Whenever I get wet, I change back into my true form?"

"And yet you ignored that fact and _ran into the rain _anyway!"

"Well, Sam needed to get her wallet back. It couldn't wait till Monday," Danny argued.

"Why do you think Tucker gave it to Valerie in the first place?" Clockwork countered.

Danny shrugged. "I thought he was using that opportunity to score a date or something?" he guessed. Clockwork responded by whacking Danny's head with his Time Staff.

"I'm as old as time itself, Daniel. That reckless behavior is only evident in those who are in love and you fit the bill," said Clockwork. "You might as well admit it to yourself."

Danny turned bright red. "I'm not in love…am I?" he asked.

"You gave her a pearl, didn't you?"

Danny's face turned even brighter. "Eleven years ago! I didn't know it applied to humans as well back then!" he yelled.

"It applies to them too," said Clockwork. He then raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that what our kind does?"

"Only in the Pacific nowadays," Danny answered. "In the Atlantic, they seem to have this bad habit of turning to sea witches for help these days. The success rate over there is 50-50 if they accept their help."

"Ah. Now I remember. Yes, half the time a sea witch's clients wind up as sea foam if they fail. It's bad for business if you ask me," Clockwork recalled. "How those humans at Disney got their hands on those facts astound even me."

~0~0~0~

"Agh! This is the third day in a row those two idiots haven't shown up for class," Sam complained on Wednesday. The rain persisted well throughout the weekend and into the new week.

"I know," said Valerie. "I texted Tucker and he said that he and Daniel came down with a really bad cold and wouldn't be in class today."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "When did you get Tucker's number?" she asked curiously.

"Same day you fell off the pier," Valerie replied. Of course Paulina got away with what she did to Sam. All she did was have her father's money make the charges go away.

~0~0~0~

Contrary to what Tucker told Valerie, both boys were very healthy. Clockwork just forbid them from leaving the shop because of the weather. He told Danny's family about what happened and his parents were anything but pleased, especially his mother.

"Do you have any idea how much you've put yourself at risk?" Maddie asked her son through a viewing clock in the living room.

"I said I was sorry," Danny argued.

"Sorry is not going to cut it, young man," said Maddie. "Clockwork can't always be there to stop time to get you out of your messes. The Observants are up in arms about this."

"What do want me to do?" Danny asked exasperatedly. "This weather can't keep me away from classes forever."

"I don't know. Use rain gear. Wear a raincoat, rain boots, and get an umbrella," said Maddie. "I don't care how goofy you look. If you get even one drop of water on you in public, a small part of your true form will appear. You're lucky no one was around to see your fins pop out."

"Believe me. It will not happen again," Danny assured his mother.

"It better not. Now, I have to go make dinner."

"Maddie! Make sure to tell Danny to send more of that fudge stuff! We're out!" Jack's voice called out.

Maddie smiled. "And make sure to send more of that fudge home to your father."

"Will do. Love you, Mom," said Danny.

"We love you too, Danny. Bye!" said Maddie. Her face faded until the clock's face appeared.

Tucker then walked into the living room. "So, how much trouble did you get in?" he asked.

"If you mean that consistent yelling you heard for the past half-hour, then I got into a ton of trouble," Danny retorted.

"Well on the bright side, the weather calls for sunshine tomorrow. We can finally go back to classes tomorrow," said Tucker.

"From now on, we use umbrellas and rain boots," said Danny.

"Agreed," said Tucker. "If we stay cooped up indoors all day whenever it rains, we'd be like that family of vampires I saw in a movie that was on TV the other day except we stay indoors when it's rainy."

"Why is that family of vampires so popular these days anyway?" asked Danny. "They don't have fangs. They don't even burn up in the sun!"

Tucker laughed. "I know. Who ever heard of a glittering vampire?"

~0~0~0~

Meanwhile, Vlad was looking into the student records of Amity University. He looked at Daniel Fenton's transcripts on his computer. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary about him, except the college he went to previously. Vlad had never heard of Leviathan University. Vlad looked everywhere on the Internet for the school website and came up with nothing. If Vlad recalled correctly, Leviathan was a sea serpent mentioned several times in the Bible. This college must have been named after it. Why name a college after a demon that dwelled in the Mediterranean?

Vlad wasn't completely ignorant like Jeremy Manson. He saw those dry patches of skin on the boy's arms and hands. Those weren't patches of dry skin; those were patches of fish scales. Did it sound crazy? Yes, it did but Vlad knew what he saw. He knew that boy was a merman. If Vlad recalled correctly, the merboy Samantha encountered eleven years ago addressed him as Danny. _'Danny is a shorter version of Daniel. After seeing that boy on Saturday I'm positive that he's the same merboy I almost caught.'_

Vlad had to make sure his assumptions were correct. He had to get the boy alone with him. The problem was: how?

~0~0~0~

The weather finally cleared up the following morning and as usual the quartet was too distracted with classes to hang out. Well, until one day when they saw a poster promoting tryouts for the men's choir.

"Sign me up!" Tucker said confidently.

Daniel groaned. "Dude, you couldn't sing at home. I doubt you can sing here," he said.

"Hey, you'll never know," said Valerie optimistically. "Tucker probably gets nervous and chokes up in front of people and that makes him stink."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," said Tucker.

"Trust me, Valerie, nerves have nothing to do with it," Daniel said to Valerie.

Sam turned to Daniel. "Are you going to try out?" she asked.

"Well…I guess it's worth a shot. I haven't taken any lessons in forever so I don't really know how I'll do," Daniel said nervously. In reality, he didn't know if he could sing in his human body. He'd never tried to.

"It says that tryouts are today so let's go now," said Valerie.

"Glad we don't have to tryout," Sam muttered. "I hate being interrupted while I'm singing."

"Do you sing at all?" Daniel asked the ultra-recyclo-vegetarian.

"Not in front of other people," Sam said blankly.

They entered the auditorium where several students sat in the seats, waiting for their turn.

Valerie tugged on Sam's sleeve. "Sam? Isn't that our acting professor, Professor Bickles?" she asked.

Sure enough, a tan man with black hair and a matching pencil mustache was sitting in the front row.

"Professor Bickles?" said Sam. "What are you doing here? I thought you taught acting and theatre."

"That used to be my dream," said Bickles. "But now I've realized that it's always been my dream to be a men's choir director."

"That's what you said when you were our acting teacher," said Valerie. "You used to be the art professor."

Bickles's eyebrow twitched. "Are you girls here to audition for a choir or make me recall every dream I failed to fulfill?"

"Sorry, professor. We're just here to support our friends," said Sam.

"Then support them from the back rows," said Bickles. "Send one of them to the front."

Tucker didn't have to be told twice. He dashed down the aisle and ran onto the stage.

Daniel put his hands over his ears. "Cover your ears," he told the girls.

"Some friend you are," an insulted Valerie stated.

"Trust me, Valerie. Tucker is so bad at singing, he'd make Randy Jackson go deaf."

"Come on. How bad can he be?"

What came next was a noise that sounded like screeching cat. Tucker was attempting to sing _America the Beautiful_ but what came out of his mouth was anything but beautiful. His singing was so bad that the screen on Daniel's phone actually cracked. Everyone covered their ears to block out the awful pain in their eardrums.

"Okay. Thank you. THANK YOU!" Bickles yelled in a desperate attempt to get Tucker to stop singing.

Tucker stopped singing and looked at Professor Bickles. "So, how did I do?" he asked.

"Uh…that was…very…um…loud," said Bickles, twitching his eye.

Tucker smiled and walked off the stage. "How did I do?" he asked his friends as soon as he met up with them.

"That sounded…interesting," Sam lied, smiling cheekily.

"Pretty…good," said Valerie.

"Dude, you sounded like nails on a chalkboard," Daniel said bluntly.

Tucker frowned. "Do you have no faith in my singing? I think I did pretty good."

"You're worse than my sister and she's pretty bad herself!"

"You have a sister?" Sam asked.

Daniel sighed. "I'll explain later."

Bickles stood up and faced the students. "Is there anyone else who is willing to tryout? Please! Don't ruin my dream of becoming a choir director!" He eyed Daniel. "You! I haven't heard you sing yet. Show me what you got!"

"What?!" Daniel yelled, totally caught off-guard.

* * *

**Hehehehe... time for Sam to hear another clue about Daniel's true identity. *wink, wink***

**I'm going to let you guys guess about the pearl's significance. X3  
**

**Keep those reviews coming, people! I'm loving it! My self-esteem is rising!  
**


	9. Moon River

**Your patience has been rewarded! The next chapter is here!  
**

**I'm surprised that none of you noticed that the surprise minor guest character was Mr. Bickles from "The Fairly OddParents". You know, the guy who is always pursuing one dream after another?  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mr. Bickles or any of the Danny Phantom characters. They all belong to Butch Hartman. I also do not own 'Moon River'. That song belongs to Andy Williams and whoever wrote it.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Moon River**

Daniel stared at Professor Bickles in shock. "You want me to do what?" he asked in disbelief.

"I want you to walk on that stage and sing whatever song you'd like," said Bickles.

Daniel gulped and walked up onto the stage. "Um…what song do you want me to sing?" he asked nervously.

Bickles sighed frustrated. "Just sing any song you'd like. I don't care if you sing a song by that Justin Beaver or whatever his name is." Everyone in the auditorium laughed at that.

"Uh…I heard a song my landlord was listening to that was kind of catchy. Can I do that?" Daniel asked nervously.

"WHATEVER! JUST SING!" Bickles yelled, on the brink of pulling his hair out.

Daniel flinched at Bickles's outburst and cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

_"Moon river, wider than a mile_

_ I'm crossing you in style someday_

_ Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker_

_ Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way…"_

Sam, Tucker and Valerie stared at Daniel in awe. None of them had ever heard Daniel sing before (well, Tucker never heard Daniel sing as a human). He sounded way better than anyone any of them had ever heard.

Sam, however, thought Daniel's voice sounded rather familiar. He sounded almost exactly like Danny without the echo.

_"Two drifters, off to see the world_

_ There's such a lot of world to see_

_ We're after the same rainbow's end, waitin' 'round the bend_

_ My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me…"_

Bickles stood up from his seat and began clapping. "Bravo! Bravo! Encore, encore!" he exclaimed.

Daniel blinked. "I was that good?" he asked.

"Young man, I haven't heard a jaw dropping performance like that since Tony Bennett performed at the Amity Park Concert Hall three years ago. And that's saying something," said Bickles.

"Isn't he, like, retired or something?"

"He's in his eighties and still a spring chicken on tour," said Bickles.

"Wow."

"Congratulations, young man! You've just got a place in the Amity University men's choir!" Bickles exclaimed. Soon everyone in the auditorium where applauding and cheering.

Daniel walked off the stage and met up with his friends.

"That was amazing!" Valerie exclaimed.

"You blew them away like you did at Leviathan," said Tucker.

Sam remained silent. All she did was give Daniel a huge smile.

"Mr. Fenton, rehearsals are on Wednesdays at seven o' clock sharp!" said Bickles.

"Yes, sir!" Daniel replied. The four friends then left the auditorium unaware that Mr. Masters was watching them from afar.

~0~0~0~

"Sam? Are you okay?" Daniel asked on their way to the clock shop. "You've been pretty quiet since we left the auditorium."

Sam looked up at Daniel. She then looked at Valerie who was having a long talk with Tucker about his crazy delusion that he could sing. She looked back at Daniel before answering, "Sorry. I was deep in thought."

Daniel tilted his head. "Mind if I ask what you were thinking about or would it just result in you blowing up at me again?" he asked.

Sam let out a soft chuckle. "I was thinking about your audition. You sound so much like someone I know," she recalled.

"Someone you know? An ex-boyfriend?" he teased.

Sam smiled and gave Daniel a playful shove. "No. He's someone whom I haven't seen in a long time. I've only seen him a few times since the start of the semester. I heard him singing one night and you sound so much like him."

Daniel smiled, knowing that she was actually talking about him. "Sounds like a really nice guy."

"Yeah. I think you'd really like him."

They reached the clock shop where they parted ways. Before Sam left, however, Daniel stopped her.

"Hey Sam?"

Sam turned to face him. "Yeah, what's up?"

Daniel turned beet red. "Um…do you think…you want to go to the…aquarium with me…on Saturday?" he asked rather nervously.

Sam smiled, knowing that he remembered that she used to go to the aquarium when she was little. "Yeah. I'd love to go. What time do you have in mind?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe eleven? We can have lunch there or something."

Sam nodded. "Saturday at eleven it is then. See ya!" She then ran off to catch up with Valerie.

~0~0~0~

Later that evening, Danny and Tucker were swimming in the ocean talking about the day.

"I can't believe Professor Bickles let you into the choir and not me!" Tucker exclaimed as he practiced his restorative spell on some damaged coral. "I thought I did pretty well."

"Tuck, your singing alone could put the American Idol judges in the hospital," Danny retorted as he froze a rock in ice. He hadn't really seen the show but he knew what it was.

"Come on! Am I really that bad?" Tucker asked.

"Worse than a blue whale with a stomachache!"

A blast of energy hit Danny suddenly. He shook himself out of his daze and saw a merman in a robotic suit of armor wearing a prosthetic tail. A green Mohawk on his head matched the green goatee on his chin. Danny and Tucker knew this merman far too well. He was a notorious hunter, known for hunting anyone or anything unique or unusual.

"Skulker?! How did you find us?" Danny asked in fear and disbelief.

"I'm a hunter. It's what I do," said Skulker. A gun emerged from his arm.

"How did you get a gun?" Tucker asked in disbelief. "Using manmade weapons is forbidden!"

"In case you've forgotten, I'm a rogue hunter," said Skulker. "I hunt whatever and whoever I want. And today I'm hunting the Phantom."

Danny gulped. Skulker had been hunting him since he was fourteen and so far had been able to evade Skulker up to this point. Without thinking, Danny swam off in the hope that Skulker would go after him and leave Tucker alone.

"Swim away, buddy!" Tucker called out. "I'll slow him down!" Tucker then fired an energy beam at Skulker but the attack ricocheted off his armor. Skulker retaliated by firing another energy beam at Tucker who quickly turned his body into a bunch of bubbles of a brief moment, making the attack go right through him.

"Ha! Bet you weren't expecting that!" Tucker taunted. "I finally mastered the Intangi-bubble spell!"

Skulker replied by tackling Tucker to the ground and tied his tentacles up in knots. "That should keep you busy for a few hours," he smirked.

Tucker scowled at his assailant. "I hate it when he does that! I'll be stuck here for the rest of the day untying my 'feet'. Why can't there be an untying spell?"

Skulker swam off to catch up to Danny. The Phantom Merman was always outsmarting him, whether it was having an orca help during his first encounter with Skulker or using Skulker's own booby traps against him. This time, he wasn't going to let the black-tailed boy escape this time.

A ray of green energy blasted Skulker from behind. "Do you have any idea how long untangling Tucker's tentacles will take even with my help?"

Skulker turned. "Hopefully long enough for me to mount your head on my wall," he smirked. He fired a ray gun that sprouted from his shoulder. It did a bit of damage to Danny who blasted the ray gun off of Skulker's shoulder.

"Where are you getting your weapons anyway?" Danny asked. "You know manmade weapons are forbidden."

"I get them from all over," said Skulker. "Shipwrecks, plane wrecks, even from our freshwater brethren, the kappa, in Japan."

Danny pouted. "How come the Japanese get all the cool stuff? It's not fair!"

Skulker then fired a small harpoon at Danny who managed to dodge it but not without cutting his arm. Danny panicked when he saw blood come out of his wound, knowing that sharks would be able to smell it from miles away and come looking for him to snack on. Skulker then shot a bright green net at Danny. It released an electrical charge on Danny, severely wounding him. Skulker merely smiled as Danny's screams rang in his metal ears.

Danny thought for sure that he was a goner when Skulker started approaching the boy. A blast from behind hit Skulker in the back and he disappeared. Danny managed to break free from the net.

"Thanks, Tuck," said Danny. "Where did you send him?"

"To the Mediterrainian Sea," Tucker's voice grunted. "It should take Skulker at least till Spring Semester to get back here so we'll be fine till then." Tucker pulled himself into view. He was on his stomach, using his arms to pull himself closer. His tentacles were a tangled mess.

"Need help getting untangled?" Danny asked.

Tucker got one look at Danny and shook his head no. "Forget about me, dude. You need to get out of here and get patched up."

"What?! No way! I'm not going to leave you behind!" Danny argued.

"Danny, that cut on your arm is bleeding like crazy. It's only a matter of time before a hungry shark gets a whiff of your blood and comes looking for you," Tucker reasoned. "I'll stay here and slow them down."

"But…"

Tucker fired a blast of energy near Danny's tailfin. "GO!" he yelled as he saw a shark come into view. He unleashed a cloud of octopus ink to block the shark's view as Danny swam away as fast as his body would allow him to.

Normally Danny would use a simple healing spell whenever he got hurt but the fight with Skulker took a lot out of him. Knowing that there was one place where he could recover in peace, Danny swam off.

~0~0~0~

"I always knew he'd ask you out eventually," Valerie's voice said through Sam's new phone to replace the damaged one. "He's always giving you longing puppy-dog eyed looks when you're not looking."

Sam blushed. "Shut up! We're just going to the aquarium. Nothing romantic about that," she said as she kicked a rock into the ocean while walking on the beach. "Besides, I've seen you giving Tucker those same looks when he isn't looking."

"Touché," said Valerie. "Well, gotta go. My break is over. I'll see you at the dorm."

"Later," said Sam as she ended her call. The sun was almost gone for the day as stars poked into the sky one by one. Her heart was racing. For the first time this year, someone who wasn't a complete phony asked her out on a date. Although, Sam could tell that Daniel and Tucker were a little…off sometimes. They did the dishes while wearing rubber gloves. They always got excited whenever they ate seafood (although Tucker always got excited whenever there was meat around). Then there was Daniel's weird skin condition. Sam was positive that he didn't have those dry patches of skin in the past. When she saw his hands the next day, his hands were normal.

Sam then realized that she was close to the old cave where Danny took her the day she fell from the pier. She walked towards the cave just for the heck of it when she heard a moan coming from inside. She got closer to the cave and looked inside. She saw a shape lying on the sandy floor. It was too dark to see but she knew it was him.

"Danny?" she called in a harsh whisper. She pulled out her phone and used the brightness of her screen to get a better look. What she saw shocked her. Danny was laying in the cold sand of the cave battered and bloody. Spots that looked like burn marks were all over his body. A large cut was visible on his left arm, bleeding profusely. "Danny!" she gasped. "What happened to you?"

* * *

**I'm evil for leaving you guys on a cliffhanger! I'm such a hypocrite, I hate cliffhangers!**

**For those who don't know, yes, there is such a person named Tony Bennett! He's the last of the greats from the Golden Age! He's done duets with tons of people from Frank Sinatra to the late Amy Winehouse to Lady Gaga! He's that good!  
**

**I hope you guys are enjoying these little songs I include in some of these chapters. These are just songs I know off the top of my head (and my dad's ipod).  
**

**Stay tuned! We've got some fluff coming your way! ;)  
**


	10. Instincts

**Sorry I didn't update. I was trying to make this chapter as long as possible but I came up somewhat short. This chapter is super intense! How? Read and find out!  
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**Enjoy!  
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* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Instincts**

Sam ran into the cave and knelt next to Danny. His heavy breathing was not a good sign. The sand absorbed the blood that slowly dripped from his arm. Sam could tell a little green light would not be enough to heal him like it healed her cut foot. She shed her jacket and placed it on top of him to keep him warm. She wanted to help Danny but the problem was that she didn't know how to apply first aid to merpeople. Dialing 911 was definitely out of the question. She was not going to expose him to humanity just for him to be locked in a cage.

"I'll be right back," said Sam. "I'm going to get some things to help you. Don't move."

"Wait," Danny said, grabbing the edge of her skirt. "Please…don't leave me."

Sam pried his webbed hand off her skirt. "I have to if you want to get better. Don't worry. I won't be long."

"At least…bring something…for a fire," Danny requested.

Sam nodded and left the cave. She ran as fast as she could to the nearest drugstore where she bought plenty of bandages, peroxide, ointment for his burns and bottles of water. As she returned to the cave, she remembered that Danny requested firewood. She looked around but only saw a bunch of driftwood lying all over the sand. It would have to do.

~0~0~0~

He lied there the whole time she was gone. All he wanted was for her to stay with him. Danny's vision was getting cloudy. He tried to sit up but his muscles began screaming at him for moving. He had to get treated soon or who knew what was going to happen. Like any injured animal, Danny's animal instincts were beginning to kick in. He certainly did not want to die in this hole in a rock.

He never accomplished what he wanted to do on land in the first place: claim a mate. If none of the females back home interested him, he had the choice of going to another region to find a female or live the rest of his life bitter and alone. And since the surface world was considered another region, Danny was allowed to go there to find a mate to call his own. He'd have to thank Jazz for finding that loophole in the rules if he lived through this nightmare.

Not only was Danny's vision getting cloudier by the minute but also so were his thoughts. _'No. Can't let my instincts take over! Must…stay…focused…"_ He fought with all his willpower not to lose himself to his instincts. The last thing he wanted to do was become like his ancestors who seduced females and hypnotized them into becoming their mates. These days, however, merfolk only lost themselves to their instincts during mating season or when they're severely injured. In Danny's case, it was the latter. If a mermaid (or merman in Danny's case) were to get severely hurt, she (or he) would rely on the mate or intended mate for healing.

White mist covered Danny's vision and he knew no more.

~0~0~0~

Sam entered the cave with some driftwood in one arm, and a bag of first aid supplies in the other. Danny was right where she left him. He hadn't moved an inch. Sam placed the driftwood and plastic bag aside and knelt down next to him.

"Danny?" she said, shaking him awake. "You still with me? I'm back. I have some stuff that will help you get better."

A fin-ear on his head twitched. He slowly lifted his head but his bangs were blocking his eyes. Sam could automatically tell that something was off about him. The friendly white aura coating his body had dimmed down, barely glowing at all. He was panting heavily; his canine teeth were visible and slightly pointed.

"D-D-Danny?" Sam repeated nervously. _'He must have lost too much blood. Some of his burns are blistering and bleeding. He's relying on his survival instincts like any injured animal would. I've got to get him to calm down before I fix him.'_

The next thing Sam knew, Danny tackled her to the ground. He was now on top of her, his hands pinned her arms next to both sides of her head. The look in his eyes made him look like a hungry shark about to feast on his prey.

"D-Danny! Stop! Snap out of it!" Sam cried.

He lowered his head till it was inches away from Sam's face. She closed her eyes. She kept reminding herself that he was not in his right state of mind, that this must be a survival instinct merfolk have to stay alive.

"I choose you," Danny panted. Sam suddenly felt something sucking on the side of her neck. She opened an eye to find that Danny was sucking on Sam's neck. "I need you," he whispered as he made his way up her neck.

"N-Need me?" Sam repeated in alarm. "Need me for what?"

"Only…you can heal me," he panted. "You have what it takes…"

Sam let out a huff. "Well, of course I'm the only one who can heal you. I have the supplies to do it. Now if you can just pull yourself together and get off of me, I'll be more than happy to help," she said, not showing her fear.

"Help me…now," he said through half-lidded eyes. His mouth then landed on Sam's. She was shocked at first that her friend whom she had just been reunited with was acting so rash. Then again, this could be his instincts talking. Sam reminded herself again that this was probably something merfolk did in a life-or-death situation. Hoping it would help him return to his normal state of mind, Sam kissed Danny back, reassuring him that she was going to help him no matter what.

The effect was instantaneous. The burns on Danny's body began to heal and fade away. The cut on Danny's arm stopped bleeding and began to scab over. The bruises on his body faded away and his normal white aura was restored to a healthy glow. Within moments, Danny was completely healed. Unfortunately that meant that his state of mind was restored and he was in for a big surprise when he opened his eyes.

"GAAAAAHHHH!" he screamed as he parted the kiss. "S-Sam? Oh Poseidon above! I'm SO sorry!" he panicked.

Sam was in a state of shock for a moment there, not expecting to feel so much electricity in that one kiss. She shook herself out of her daze when she saw Danny back to his normal self and apologizing like he was begging for mercy.

"Danny! Danny! Calm down. It's okay," Sam assured.

"No, it's not okay! I can't believe I let myself do that to you! I'm so sorry!" Danny exclaimed.

Sam put her hand over his mouth. "Now I'm going to remove my hand and you're going to tell me what the hell just happened to you. Understand?" she said.

Danny nodded and Sam slowly removed her hand from his mouth. Danny took a slow deep breath.

"Now calmly tell me what just happened," said Sam.

Danny looked down in shame. "I'm really sorry…"

"We're past that part," Sam interrupted. "Just get to the point."

"Uh, right. When you found me, I was really beat up. Normally a simple healing spell would fix me right up but when I get really hurt, I need help from another," Danny started.

Sam nodded. "That would explain how you healed my foot when we first met."

"Normally my kind would have to recite an incantation in order for it to work but for some reason I can do it without speaking. Only Cecaelia – those who are half-human, half-octopus – can do that," Danny explained.

"So what you're saying is that a little healing spell wouldn't have helped you this time around?" Sam asked. Danny nodded, still looking down. "Then…what happens when you're really beat up like just now?"

Danny paused. He didn't want to tell her the truth; that only his mate could restore him. He couldn't tell her that, not yet at least. He had to be sure she was the one for him; that what happened just now wasn't a fluke. "We have to rely on a female to heal us. Normally they would use some type of healing spell but…what I did just now…that's used as a last resort." This was mostly the truth. The only tidbit he left out was that a merman's mate had to kiss him.

Sam turned red. "So…that kiss…" she started.

"It's like the ultimate healing spell. It's rarely used. Females usually specialize in those kinds of things," Danny explained.

"But I don't know magic!" Sam argued. "I've never performed a spell in my life."

"It doesn't matter," said Danny. "It just has to be a female of some race. She doesn't have to know magic in order to pull it off."

"So why did you behave…like that?"

Danny winced, ashamed that he let himself act like that in front of her. "I don't really know what happened. It's all a blur. I can't remember anything."

"You had me pinned down on the ground and you gave me a hickey," Sam reminded him, showing him the small bruise on her neck.

Danny's eyes widened. "Did I do that?" he asked with uncertainty.

Sam nodded. "I would have enjoyed it more if you weren't acting so different," she said sarcastically.

Danny hid his green eyes behind his bangs again. "I'm sorry."

"Would you stop with the apologies already?" said Sam. "You were relying on your animal instincts. That's the only explanation I can come up with. Humans have those too, although we don't act like _that_ when we're hanging on to our lives by a thread."

Danny looked up a little. "So, you're not mad? You're not scared of me?"

"Of course not," Sam assured him. "You're my friend. Why would I be afraid of you?"

"Because I…kissed you?"

Sam turned red again and turned away. "Y-Y-You were hurt. You weren't thinking straight. I'll let it slide this time," she said hurriedly.

"So we're still friends?" Danny asked, his green eyes lighting up with hope.

Sam turned back to him and gave him a smug grin. "Always."

Danny gave her an unexpected hug. "Thank you, Sam!"

Sam normally would have tensed up since she was Goth but decided to bear it for Danny's sake. She slowly raised her arms and returned the hug. His skin felt just as weird as his hands. Patches of black and white scales dotted his back. The fin going down his back looked like it was made from the finest material in the world. Curious, Sam reached out to touch his fin, causing him to flinch and release her.

"Sorry!" Sam said in alarm. "I didn't mean to do that. I just…wanted to…touch your…dorsal fin?" Should she call the fin on his back that?

Danny turned his head to look at his fin. He looked back at Sam and smiled. "Sure. You can touch it." He turned around so his back was to her. Sam reached out and touched his dorsal fin, rubbing it between her thumb and index finger.

"It's so smooth," she noted. She noticed that Danny's tail was contracting and flicking as she rubbed his fin.

Danny groaned in content. "That feels so good," he murmured. Sam smiled. He was starting to sound like his normal self. She let go and looked at her phone.

"Oh my gosh! It's getting late!" she exclaimed as she noticed how late it was.

Danny then remembered why he was in the cave in the first place. "Oh Poseidon! Tuc – I mean, Buck!"

Sam looked at him. "Who is Buck?"

"My friend, a Cecaelia. We got into a fight with a rogue merman. Buck stayed behind to slow him down while I fled. I gotta make sure he's okay," said Danny.

Sam stood up and picked up her jacket. "So I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. See ya." Danny then dove back into the water and was out of sight. Sam ran out of the cave to return to campus, the driftwood and first aid supplies forgotten.

~0~0~0~

Danny raced back to Tucker as fast as he could. He was surely gonna be pissed off that Danny took a long time to heal.

Danny soon found Tucker right where he left him except his tentacles were even more tangled than before. "I turn my back for an hour and a half and you're worse than when I left you," he said to the octopus boy.

"Well you took your sweet time," Tucker retorted. "I don't know how Skulker does it. How can he turn up six appendages into a hundred knots? Seriously…"

"Yeah, and how can you turn a hundred knots into a thousand?" Danny countered as he helped his friend get untangled. "I told you we should have kept that Boy Scout Handbook. I don't care if it was published in 1999. At least it would have helped us untie these knots."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Tucker drawled. "So how did you get better so quickly? Usually it takes you longer for your injuries to heal before you can use magic."

Danny blushed and continued untying his best friend. "Sam found me," he mumbled.

"SAM?!" Tucker yelled in disbelief. "She found you?!"

"Take it easy, Tuck. You're undoing my work. Hold still."

"How did she help you? Is she gonna tell anyone about you?" Tucker asked now in full panic mode.

Danny's face turned even redder. "My…my instincts took over…" he mumbled.

Tucker's jaw dropped. "You were that hurt? Man, I should have just healed you – wait! When you say your instincts took over…" Danny just nodded. Tucker's eyes widened. "But that is only possible if she was your mate! And I know you two definitely did NOT tie the knot, no pun intended."

"Well, I think I…intend to…make her my mate," Danny said nervously.

Tucker was so shocked at this revelation that his tentacles untangled themselves. "YOU INTEND TO MAKE HER YOUR WHAT?!" he yelled. "You didn't even propose to her. You didn't even give her a pearl!"

"Actually I did," said Danny, "eleven years ago."

"You mean when you first met her?" Tucker asked. Danny nodded in reply. "When you almost got captured by that weird human?" Another nod. "You mean that old bottle you gave her that was full of some useless junk had a pearl inside it?" Yet another nod. "How did I miss this?"

"I was ten!" Danny defended. "No one told me that a pearl is our version of an engagement ring! How was I supposed to know that I practically asked her to marry me when I was a guppy? No one tells me these things."

"You're parents are gonna be as steamed as a bunch of clams at a clambake," Tucker muttered as they swam to shore.

~0~0~0~

Sam ran as fast as she could back to campus. Never in her whole life had she been kissed like that. She knew that some couples feel a spark whenever they kissed but Sam never felt that many sparks in her whole life. She felt torn. She really liked Danny but she also liked Daniel. _'It's funny how they both practically have the same name.'_

Sam decided to spend her free time researching on merfolk in order to understand Danny more so she can be more useful to him in the future. She didn't know how she truly felt about him, but he was her friend and friends always had each other's backs.

Her cell phone suddenly started vibrating. "Hello?"

"Samantha, how nice to hear from you again," a cold voice answered.

"Mr. Masters? How did you get this number?" Sam asked.

"Oh forgive me. Your parents are going on a business trip overseas this weekend and they gave me your number so I can check up on you," Vlad explained.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Figures. They're so paranoid when it comes to me," she complained.

Vlad chuckled. "If you are free this weekend, perhaps you can come to my manor this weekend," he offered.

Sam remembered that she had plans this weekend and had to decline. "Not this weekend, Mr. Masters. I have plans with a friend of mine this weekend and I also have to study for a marine biology exam that's on Tuesday," she explained.

"That's perfectly alright, my dear. It seems college has not changed since I was a student. How about next weekend?" he asked.

"Uh, sure," Sam answered nervously, wondering why Vlad suddenly lifted the ban on her from coming to his manor.

"Oh, and bring your friends," Vlad added. "They're more than welcome to tag along."

* * *

**Hope you understood Danny's explanation. I'm not good at these kinds of things. Bottom-line: If Danny is at death's door, Sam just has to give him the Kiss of Life and he's good as new. Love is power! Let's just hope Sam will agree to this kind of commitment!**

**Happy, happy birthday, baby sister! You're now 19 years old! I love you, sis!  
**


	11. Research

**The next chapter is here! Not much action in this chapter! I'll try to include some action in the next one.  
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**Enjoy!  
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**Chapter 11**

**Research**

For the rest of the week Sam spent her free time in the library, researching merpeople and their culture while doing her homework at the same time. This seemed to work perfectly with her since Valerie had to work overtime at the Nasty Burger to make things perfect for a food critic that was to visit soon. Dick Tock had Daniel and Tucker working double shifts for "staying out late when you were needed during business hours".

Sam looked through several Greek mythology books on mermaids and came up empty. Several other cultures didn't shed much light on them either. The Internet wasn't much help either since several websites just came up with theories from various crackpots Sam had never even heard of.

Having enough of the library's resources, Sam took a cab to the Skulk and Lurk Bookstore. It was her personal sanctuary from the world. It was quiet, dark, and the only place where her Gothic personality was welcomed with open arms. Not to mention it also had several books most bookstores never had in stock, including books that are banned in some schools.

"Good afternoon, Miss Manson," the store clerk greeted as Sam entered the store.

"Hey, Mr. Doyle. What's up?" Sam asked.

"Got the new Stephen King novel in stock. Care for a copy?" asked Mr. Doyle.

"Not today," said Sam. "Do you have any books on mythical creatures?"

The store clerk lifted an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're now into fairies and unicorns and all that girly stuff."

Sam shook her head no. "I'm actually more interested in the darker side of the girly mythical creatures. You know, like how not all mermaids are about singing and dancing with crabs and fish. Stuff like that."

"Ah, the true nature of mythical creatures. Yes, there should be some in the back."

"Can I see them, please?"

"Of course. Be right back." Mr. Doyle answered. He disappeared into the back. Sam had always admired Mr. Charles Doyle's company. His long black hair matched his goatee. A small pair of glasses covered his green eyes. And he always wore an old grey scarf that he says was given to him by his half-brother Randy. Sam always loved it when he would write a Christmas poem every year to celebrate the holidays. The only thing that annoyed her though was whenever he wrote a Christmas poem he'd spend the rest of the day talking in rhyme.

Mr. Doyle came back carrying boxes of several old mythology books. "Whew! These things weigh a ton!"

"Thanks, Mr. Doyle," said Sam. She opened a box and went through the books, looking at anything that sounded promising.

One book looked exceptionally promising, titled _Mermaid Species_. Opening the old book, Sam saw pictures of several types of mermaids that she had never heard of.

The _Defensiva __Stultus_, or "protective oaf" was known for being protective for its mate and offspring, large bodies, clumsy nature and its obsession for the cocoa bean, which was probably why there were several sightings in South America.

The _Rationalis__ Pugnatore_, or "rational fighter" was known for its fighting abilities, similar to a fighting fish. Its fighting skills are said to be equivalent to a ninth-degree black belt. It was also notorious for fighting to protect its offspring from any predators.

The _Intelligens __Pugnatore_, or "intelligent fighter" was known for its intelligence. Similar to the Rational Fighter, it was also known for its fighting abilities, although it prefers using its sharp wit to strategize a plan of attack instead of rushing straight into the battlefield. However, it was also overprotective of its family and friends. It was also one of the few mermaid breeds that could not sing.

Sam flipped through the pages of the book until one entry caught her eye. It was about the _Phantasma __Nereiorum Formant_, also known as the "Phantom Merman". According to the book, the one Phantom Merman was born every one hundred years, making them extremely rare. It was notorious for its elusiveness and its deadly wail. Its known characteristics were its jet-black tail, snow-white hair, and glowing green eyes.

"How much for this book?" Sam asked.

Charles blinked. "You want that old thing?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm doing a research paper on…mythology and…I want to write my paper on mermaids," she fibbed.

"Well, that book has been sitting in the back room forever. It used to be $15.95 but for you I'll make it $10. Think of it as a clearance sale," said Charles.

Sam paid for the book and left the store. "Thanks, Mr. Doyle!"

Charles pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. "Clockwork, it's me. It's just as you predicted. She bought the book. What's next?"

"…"

"Very well. I look forward to our Thanksgiving get-together. Till then."

~0~0~0~

Saturday came faster than anyone thought. Sam got up early to get ready for her date with Daniel. She put on a Gothic Hello Kitty t-shirt, her black plaid skirt, and black combat boots. She grabbed her blue denim jacket (her black one was in the wash) and left the dorm.

She stopped at a bagel shop for breakfast where she met Valerie.

"Hey, Juliet. Heading to the aquarium to meet Romeo?" Valerie joked.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Har-de-har-har, Valerie. It's not like that between us. At least not yet."

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "So you do like him," she clarified.

Sam blushed as she took a sip of coffee. "I don't know. I don't know how I feel about him."

"Is there someone else?"

"That's the thing. I don't know if he is 'someone else'. I saved his life when we were little and I've only been reunited with him about a month ago before classes started," Sam explained, being careful not to mention that this "person" was not human.

"A childhood friend? Not sure how relationships work out in that case," said Valerie.

"Well, you know when I fell from the pier during our first weekend back on campus? He was the one who saved me and took me to that cave."

"So I guess that made you both even. You saved his life, and he saves yours. It evens out," Valerie stated.

Sam nodded before continuing. "That's the thing. He got seriously hurt earlier this week and I helped him get better."

Valerie blinked. "Sounds like you both keep owing each other favors."

Sam turned even redder. "Well, while I was helping him get better…he kissed me…" she mumbled.

Valerie gasped. "He KISSED you?!" she repeated in disbelief. "How was it? Was he a good kisser? Did you kiss him back? Is that how you got that hickey on your neck a few nights ago?"

Sam winced. "Well let me put it this way. It was the most interesting kiss I've ever had."

Valerie giggled. "He sounds like a cute guy. So what's the problem?"

"I also like Daniel. But I also like my friend just as much. I don't know what to do. Help me," Sam pleaded.

Val shrugged. "Can't help you there. Maybe after your date today, you'll know how you feel."

Sam sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyway, I better get going. Wish me luck."

"Good luck, girl. And if he makes you cry, even a little, just give me five minutes with him and I'll make him change his mind," said Valerie.

Sam smiled at Valerie's joke. "Don't worry. You know it takes a lot to make me cry." With that, she left the shop and took a cab to the aquarium.

~0~0~0~

Daniel waited patiently outside the aquarium. After the incident in the cave earlier this week, Clockwork was anything but happy. He scolded him for acting in a moment of weakness. He also scolded Tucker for not healing Danny in the first place.

"I don't care if females are the best healers," Clockwork said. "You're his friend and confidant, Tucker. You're the next best thing. Until Samantha officially becomes Daniel's mate, you're going to have to take care of Daniel's injuries. I don't care how tangled your tentacles are."

As punishment, Danny and Tucker had to work double shifts at the clock shop. Daniel was more than happy that Saturday finally came. He was looking forward to seeing Sam again.

"Daniel!"

Daniel turned and saw Sam running towards him. His face lit up at her presence. "Sam! Glad to see you can make it!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Sam smiled back. "Yeah. I'm really excited to be here. I can't remember the last I've been here."

"Shall we go in?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah. Let's go."

The two paid admission and entered the building. Sam was so excited she didn't know where to start. Daniel had to admit that this side of her reminded him of the girl he'd met when they were children. It was different than her usual cynical self, not that he was complaining about it. He wanted to see Sam smile throughout the whole day and he was going to make sure that was going to happen.

"Cool! A shark," Sam noted. They approached a tank where a nurse shark was swimming in circles. "I'm usually against cages and the like, but when I see all these cool sea creatures I forget all about it. Some of these guys can only be found in the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean and not many people can see them except in the aquarium."

"So you'll make exceptions for aquariums?" asked Daniel.

Sam shrugged. "To an extent. There are certain cases where I think a beautiful animal is trapped in a tank," she said. Certain cases applied to her special and unusual friend.

Daniel looked back at the shark in the tank. "You know, back home, we'd call sharks dogfish."

Sam snorted. "Seriously? Dogfish?"

"What? You've never heard of that?"

"I honestly say I have not."

"I don't know how it came to be but that's what we call them," said Daniel.

The two moved on to see the penguin exhibit. Seeing the penguins slip and slide across the manmade ice made Daniel think back to his childhood when he and Jazz would go to the Antarctic and play with the penguins. Sliding down the ice was Daniel's favorite activity with the birds. He'd always cry when it was time to go back home.

For a while Daniel and Sam looked at the various exhibits and see the various sea creatures, most of which Daniel was familiar with. From time to time, he'd point out some interesting facts about this fish or that sea creature and Sam would hang onto every word.

"Hey, check out those fish. Are those angelfish?" Sam asked. One tank had a school of angelfish swimming about. They were a sight to see. "They're beautiful."

Daniel glanced at Sam to see her entranced by the fish. He smiled mischievously. He stared at the school of fish and his icy blue eyes glowed bright green. Soon, the angelfish began swimming at some kind of rhythm, almost like they were dancing.

"Whoa! Check out what the fish are doing!" Sam exclaimed.

"Never seen fish do that before," Daniel commented, not breaking eye contact with the fish.

The school then started swimming in various shapes, such as an arrow or a star. This behavior was getting the public's attention. Daniel saw this and decided to end his little trick with the school swimming in the shape of a heart.

Sam turned to see if Daniel was enjoying it and frowned when she saw his eyes. She couldn't tell if it was a trick of the light or what but it looked like his eyes were glowing green. _'Almost the same shade as Danny's eyes…'_

The two left and went to the aquarium café for lunch.

"That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" Sam said as she ate her salad. "I didn't know angelfish could do that."

"I'm as shocked as you are," Daniel fibbed. "It got a lot of people's attention."

"Makes me wonder if scientists will look into it," said Sam.

"Who knows?"

Sam took another bite of her salad. "I have a question."

Daniel took a bite of his burger. "Yeah?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to Mr. Masters' manor next weekend," said Sam. "Normally I would be forbidden to go but for some reason Vlad is making an exception and he said that I could invite some friends."

Daniel frowned. "But I thought you hated him. Why are you accepting his invitation?"

Sam gritted her teeth. "Believe me, I hate his guts. But my parents got wind of it and pretty much talked me into it. I don't want to go but it would be less of a pain if you, Tucker and Valerie went with me. At least it would make the visit more bearable."

Daniel thought about it. As much as he'd rather stay away from that awful man, he was afraid of what would happen if Sam went there by herself. Vlad would probably interrogate her into talking about him. Daniel knew that Sam could keep a secret but he was afraid that Vlad would do something to make her talk. As scared as Daniel was he wasn't going to let Sam go to Masters Manor alone.

"Yeah. I think I can go. I'll talk to Dick about it and I'll let you know," he told her.

* * *

**That would be so awesome if fish could actually do that.**

**Any idea who Mr. Doyle really is? Take a wild guess! I came up with the name by combining Charles Dickens with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, two well known authors we all know and love (although I've never really read any of their stories).  
**

**Keep those reviews coming, folks!  
**


	12. Weekend Getaway

**This is turning out better than I thought. I'm glad that you guys are enjoying this story.  
**

**And for those who guessed: yes, Mr. Doyle is GhostWriter! Since Christmas is almost here I thought that I'd include him in this story.  
**

**Enjoy!  
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* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Weekend Getaway**

Sam entered her dorm after her date with Daniel and saw that Valerie was waiting for her.

"Okay, girl. Spill. Give me details," Valerie demanded.

Sam rolled her eyes. "What? You're going to interrogate me?" she asked.

"I will if I have to," said Valerie. So Sam took off her boots and her jacket and sat on her bed and told Valerie about her date with Daniel. How he told her about the numerous fish he knew about, how entranced she was with the angelfish's behavior and invited him and Tucker to Vlad's beach manor next weekend. Valerie immediately accepted the invitation since next weekend was Labor Day weekend.

"I want Daniel to be there but he seemed so nervous when I brought it up," said Sam. "I don't want to force him to go if he doesn't want to."

"Would if he came under duress?" Valerie suggested.

"I'm not going to threaten him!" Sam exclaimed, causing Valerie to laugh.

"I'm kidding," she said.

~0~0~0~

Danny went back to the clock shop and explained his situation to Clockwork and Tucker. Clockwork seemed to approve of the idea but the half-smile he was trying to hide made Danny think that something was going to happen.

"Are you sure about this, Danny?" Tucker asked nervously as they ate dinner.

"Tucker, if Sam goes alone Vlad might get her to talk about us," Danny said.

"So she'll talk about her two new friends to an old family friend. What's the big deal?" Tucker asked completely clueless.

Danny face-palmed. "How am I the clueless one?" he asked himself before answering Tucker's question. "I mean he might get her to talk about _us_," he repeated with extra emphasis on the word 'us'.

Tucker's eyes widened as he realized what Danny was talking about. "Oh! Now I get it," he said. He pulled out his PDA and started pressing buttons.

"What are you doing?" Danny asked as he cleared his plate.

"Looking for any dirt on this Vlad Masters character," Tucker answered. "Looks like he's a successful businessman, single, and a billionaire! Man, what can be so evil about this guy?"

Danny glared daggers at his best friend. "How about the fact that I almost became his hostage? Did you forget that?"

"Oh. Right."

Clockwork decided to join in the conversation. "Perhaps you should contact your mother about this, Daniel. She knows him better than any of you," he suggested.

"Or you can save us the trouble by telling us all about him," Tucker suggested to Clockwork who answered by whacking the Cecaelia on the head with a nearby wooden spoon (his Time Staff was in his study).

"You know I cannot say. Ask your mother, Daniel. She'll enlighten you about everything she knows about this man," said Clockwork.

Danny nodded. "Alright, I'll do it. But first I have to make a phone call."

~0~0~0~

Sam's phone started vibrating as she put on her PJ's. Caller ID said it was Daniel. She quickly picked it up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Sam? It's Daniel."

Sam smiled as she heard his voice. "Hey. Did you talk to Mr. Tock?" she asked then blinked. "Wow, that sounded weird."

Daniel chuckled. "Yeah, it kind of did. Anyway, I spoke to Dick about it and he said Tucker and I can come with you guys."

Sam pumped her fist into the air as he said that. The weekend was already looking up and it wasn't even here yet. "Awesome! This is great!"

"Yeah. Listen, do you know anyone who can drive us there? Since Dick is blind, Tuck and I don't have a ride."

"Valerie has a car. She'll give us a lift," Sam replied.

"Cool. Looking forward to it," Daniel fibbed.

Sam smiled again. "Me too. See you tomorrow in class."

"Later." The call ended. Normally it wasn't a very Goth thing to do but Sam just hopped up and down in glee. She took a deep breath to calm herself down before crawling into bed for the night.

She took out her new mermaid book and looked through the pictures. Her favorite by far was the Phantom Merman. He looked so much like Danny. Same black tail, same fins, same hair, and the same eyes.

"Wow, they're pretty affectionate for one of the most powerful mermaid species," Sam said to herself. "But then why did Danny act like that in the cave? I know he said that it took a female to heal him but those things he said. What did he mean by 'I choose you' and 'I need you'?"

She turned the page and came across a passage about merfolk that caught her eye:

"_Interbreeding is common among the merfolk. One Phantom Merman is born every century regardless of its parents' breeding history. However, like any merman, he must rely on his mate for healing and breeding purposes. Unfortunately, there have been no known reports of the Phantom Merman ever breeding another one of his species possibly due to the fact that he is considered an outcast amongst his kind."_

"Okay but that doesn't explain why he went bonkers," Sam said to herself. "It's got to be more than just instincts." Giving up, she slammed the book shut, turned off her light and went to sleep.

~0~0~0~

"You WHAT?!" Maddie exclaimed over the viewing clock after hearing where her son was going. "Danny, I forbid you from going to that human's house! He'll figure out who and what you are and there's no telling what he'll do to you!"

"Actually, Clockwork might have an idea of what Vlad has in store for me," Danny remarked.

"Honey, you know you can't ask Clockwork that," said Maddie.

"I know but having some idea about him might be helpful."

Maddie sighed. Jack then suddenly swam into view. "You guys talking about Vladdie?" he asked excitedly.

Maddie face-palmed. "Jack, are you forgetting what Vlad tried to do to our son?"

Jack scoffed. "He didn't know that was our son. I'm sure it was all a misunderstanding."

Maddie sniffed. "I refuse to believe that. Anyone who tries to hurt my baby has to answer to me!"

"How did Dad know about Vlad?" asked a curious Danny.

"I talked your father into coming with me to the surface one day to meet Vlad and Jack took an instant liking to him," Maddie explained.

"Yeah and he was so kind too. I still wonder why he poked me with that long pointy needle though," Jack trailed off.

Danny looked at his mother questioningly. "What is Dad talking about?" he asked.

"Your father unknowingly gave Vlad a blood sample one day. It wasn't until after your father gave me a pearl that I found out what Vlad wanted to do," Maddie explained. "I begged him to stop his project for our people's sake but he refused. I went back to the ocean and vowed to never return to the surface again. Last I heard from Vlad he just got out of the hospital after getting into a lab accident. Your father and I were on our way to the Sea of Japan for our honeymoon when we heard about it."

"You think he's still researching us after all these years?" Danny asked.

"After what he did to you when you were a guppy I have no doubt that he's still trying to expose us," Maddie answered.

"Well, what if I went to Vlad's house to see what he's really up to?" Danny suggested. "If I see anything that can threaten to expose us, I'll just take it."

Maddie thought long and hard about this before coming to a decision. "I suppose if it's for the good of our people…very well. But promise me that you'll get out of that house at the first sign of danger."

"I will, Mom. I promise," Danny vowed.

~0~0~0~

The week went by so slowly that the gang thought Friday would never come. Danny and Tucker agreed that they would leave Vlad's house at the smallest hint of danger. Valerie told Sam and the boys that if they wanted to return to campus early, she'd be more than happy to drive them back.

The drive took about forty-five minutes. They spoke of how their week went, how Daniel was irritated that Professor Bickles kept throwing fits whenever someone sang off-key during choir practice, how Valerie caught a pickpocket during her rounds with campus security (one of her two part-time jobs) and how Sam's Goth haiku was best poem at the poetry club.

"Holy crap! Is that Masters Manor?" Tucker asked as they approached the beach manor.

Sam sighed. "Yep. Home of the richest Packers fan on the planet."

"Packers? As in the Green Bay Packers?" Daniel asked.

"The one and only," said Sam. Valerie pulled up in front of the front door and turned off the car. While she and the boys unpacked the car Sam went and knocked on the door.

Vlad Masters opened the door. His silver hair was pulled back in its usual ponytail. He wore a fancy black suit that seemed to mirror what Sam believed to be his black heart.

"Samantha. It's good to see you here after all these years," Vlad greeted.

"Eleven years, two months and six days but who's counting?" Sam replied dryly. She still hated him for what he did to her and Danny.

"Ah, and these must be your friends," Vlad said as he walked over to Sam's friends and helped them with their bags. "Valerie Gray, Tucker Foley…and Daniel Fenton."

"Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Masters," said Valerie who shook the man's hand.

"Shall I give you a tour?" asked Vlad.

Sam stepped in. "Don't worry. I'll do the honors." She led them inside and showed them the rooms they would be sleeping in.

Vlad silently fumed at how Sam was behaving towards him. Not that he blamed her. He did ban her from his beachside manor after what she did. He'd lay low tonight; give them a chance to settle in and avoid drawing suspicion from any of them. If he wanted to get Daniel away from the group, he'd have to make sure the boy was comfortable with his surroundings first.

~0~0~0~

"I'm telling you. There is something fishy going on with Mr. Masters," Sam told Valerie that night in their room. "Why would he suddenly allow me to come back here after all these years?"

Val shrugged. "Maybe he finally decided that you were mature enough to come back and not cause trouble?" Sam glared at her. "Hey I was just throwing it out there. I've got nothing else."

Sam sighed and unzipped her bag to get her toiletries. "All I'm saying is that something is not right about him. I didn't like him then and I sure as hell don't like him now," she declared. She walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Valerie then noticed something sticking out of Sam's overnight bag. "What's this old beer bottle doing in your bag?" she inquired.

Sam spat her toothpaste on the bathroom mirror and ran back into the bedroom. "That's mine! It just has some old useless junk," she said hastily.

"Girl, rinse your mouth out then talk."

Sam went back to the bathroom to rinse her mouth out and wiped off the mirror. She returned to the bedroom and picked up the bottle to open it. "This is something my good friend gave me when we were kids. The one who gave me that hickey last week," she said.

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "He gave you a bottle full of useless junk?" she asked.

"As my grandma would say, 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'. My friend gave me this when he heard me ranting about how I wanted to find a treasure map in a bottle or an oyster with a pearl inside it. So he gave me a bottle and filled it with some really cool stuff," Sam explained as she fondly remembered that unforgettable summer. She poured the bottle's contents out. "Check it out. Used bullet shell casings, dried out Yu-Gi-Oh cards, some nickels and dimes…"

"Who is Danny?" Valerie asked as she looked at a dried out note written in a child's handwriting.

Sam blushed. "That was his name. I never learned his last name."

"Think it was Daniel?"

"No way! The Danny I met as a kid looks completely different from Daniel, although they do sound alike," said Sam.

Something else caught Valerie's eye. "Is that a real pearl?"

Sam picked up the gem and held it up to her eye level. "I think so. I never went to get it appraised. Frankly I'm afraid that if I did my parents would find out and try to sell it."

"Yeah. It's your pearl. You can sell it if you want to. Who are they to decide that?"

The clouds outside their window parted and revealed a moon close to becoming full. The moonlight hit the pearl in Sam's hand and the gem suddenly started to glow a bright green.

Sam yelped and dropped the pearl in alarm. Both girls took a step away from the gem now sitting on the carpet.

"Since when did pearls do _that_?" Sam asked, trying her best to keep her voice low and not wake the others.

"I don't think you're dealing with an ordinary pearl," Valerie muttered to her. More clouds covered the moon again and the pearl stopped glowing. The two girls stood there for a moment, silently debating whether they should move or not. Sam gathered her courage and inched her way to her treasure. She crouched down and tapped the pearl with her finger as if she was expecting it to burn her or something.

"I think it's okay," Sam said as she picked the pearl up. She stared at it. It seemed like an ordinary pearl. It was still snow white with green and purple streaks when held up to the light. "What the heck was that?"

"That was the freakiest thing I've ever seen," Valerie believed.

"M-M-Maybe it was just a trick of the light," Sam assumed. "You know, maybe it does that when exposed to light."

Valerie went to the nightstand and turned on the lamp. "Put it under the lamp light and let's see," she said.

Sam placed the pearl under the light. Nothing happened. The pearl just reflected the light off its snow-white surface. "Nothing's happening," Sam stated.

Valerie looked at the pearl. "Okay. Light from a light bulb won't work. Maybe it does that little light show in sunlight," she guessed.

"Then explain how it glowed in the moonlight," said Sam.

"The moon glows because it reflects sunlight off the surface or something like that," Valerie explained. "Maybe the pearl glows in natural light."

"I guess we'll have to see in the morning," said Sam.

* * *

**Heheheheh... I'm oozing with brilliance! **

**Some action is coming soon!  
**


	13. A History Lesson

**Badda-bing! New chapter is here at last! Vlad starts to close in on our heroes!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**A History Lesson**

The following morning Vlad allowed the college students to go down to his private beach. This only raised more suspicions for Sam and Daniel. Only Valerie wanted to go swimming. Sam, being the Goth that she was, refused to leave the shade of the beach umbrella. Daniel and Tucker refused for obvious reasons but told the girls that they never learned how to swim.

Vlad came down and offered them snorkeling equipment. Valerie dragged Sam to put on the equipment. When they were ready they noticed that Daniel and Tucker were gone.

"Where did those two idiots go?" Valerie asked aloud.

"It's not like them to leave without telling anyone," said Sam. She then picked up her cell phone and saw a text from Daniel saying that he and Tucker went to check out Vlad's sailboats and wished her and Valerie to have fun.

"Never mind. They went to check out Vlad's boats," said Sam. She rolled her eyes. "Boys."

Valerie also rolled her eyes. "What is it with men and boats, cars and trucks?" she asked.

"Who knows? Well, they'll catch up to us later," said Sam.

"Since they're gone, should we do a test?" asked Val.

"Good idea. Let me get it," said Sam. She went to her cover-up and pulled out her pearl. The moment sunlight hit the surface of the pearl, nothing happened. The two waited for a good five minutes but nothing changed.

"Okay. I guess only moonlight makes the pearl glow," Valerie assumed.

"That just makes this thing even more weird," said Sam as she put the pearl back in its hiding place. "Now let's get this snorkeling thing over with."

"Come on. You'll never know what we'll find," said Valerie.

"Let's see, garbage, trash, junk or any combination of the three," Sam said dryly.

Valerie rolled her eyes and the two went into the water. True to Sam's words, the two saw a lot of trash on the bottom of the ocean. They saw an old tire, someone's bicycle, and a shopping cart. They saw only a few fish and not much else.

They pulled their faces out of the water and spat out the salt water.

"I told you there was nothing but useless junk," said Sam.

"How did all of that crap get into the ocean in the first place?" Valerie asked Sam.

"Even I don't know how it got all the way out here," Sam answered. "By which I mean, how they got into the ocean in the first place."

"Why can't people just throw away their junk in the dump like everyone else?" asked Valerie.

Something moved in the water, grabbing both girls' attention. They dunked their heads back into the water to get a closer look. Two figures were examining an old abandoned car sitting near the moss-covered shopping cart. What made them so different was that their legs were…different. One figure had something that looked like a tail and the other figure had…several. Six in fact.

Sam and Valerie pulled their faces out of the water.

"Do you see what I see?!" Valerie asked in a panic.

"That two people are swimming in deep water and checking out an abandoned car?" Sam guessed. She knew that those two figures were merfolk. Well, one was a mermaid. The other must of been a Cecaelia. It would explain why the second figure had six legs.

"Call me crazy but I don't think they're humans," said Valerie. "They look like…mermaids."

"Are you serious?" Sam asked exasperatedly. "There's got to be an explanation for it."

"And that is?"

Sam paused and thought about it. "Uh…two guys in costumes?" she guessed.

Valerie rolled her eyes and dunked her head back into the water. Sam followed suit. She recognized the first figure. It was Danny.

~0~0~0~

Danny and Tucker went swimming as soon as Sam and Valerie left to go snorkeling. They went to their old grotto where they used to hide junk they'd find when they were kids. They soon left to find more junk for old times' sake.

"I can't believe how naïve we were when we were kids," Tucker stated as they sifted through garbage lying on the ocean floor.

"We were just curious about the human world," said Danny. "We don't have the same technology they do."

"Which makes me wonder why we don't," said Tucker. "The technology humans have is so fascinating. Computers are way better than anything I've ever dealt with. That 'Internet' thing is as cool as magic."

"Your fascination with human technology is turning into an obsession," said Danny. "It's kind of creepy."

Tucker was about to argue when something caught his eye. "Dude! Check out that Hummer!" he exclaimed. A large yellow hummer was sitting in the sand. Bits and pieces of moss and algae were growing off of it. The tires were completely flat and the windows were broken. "Is that a thing of beauty or what?" Tucker asked.

"Even in the state it's currently in it's beautiful," Danny said dreamily.

"Wonder what the inside looks like," said Tucker.

The two of them looked inside to get a closer look. The water ruined the leather seats. Seaweed grew out of the holes. Tucker looked at the side mirror and paled.

"Dude, we gotta split," he said urgently.

"Why?" asked Danny. He looked at the mirror too and his eyes widened. Sam and Valerie were staring down at them. "SWIM AWAY!"

Tucker released a cloud of black ink to block the girls' views and the boys swam off.

~0~0~0~

Sam and Valerie returned to Vlad's manor to shower that evening. They both agreed not to tell Daniel and Tucker what they saw to avoid being laughed at for the rest of the weekend.

"I never thought mermaids existed until now," said Valerie as she dried her hair.

"You're not going to turn into my fourth grade teacher are you?" Sam asked worriedly. "He was obsessed with fairy godparents. When he wasn't teaching, he was hunting fairies."

Valerie laughed. "Seriously? Fairies? Don't worry. I won't be an obsessed mermaid hunter. It will most likely just turn into a personal hobby, like people who believe in UFOs."

"Just don't go to any conventions," Sam laughed.

The sound of a door closing announced that Daniel and Tucker were back.

"Ah! Daniel, Tucker! How was the beach?" Vlad's voice asked the boys.

Sam went to the top of the stairs and listened in on the conversation. Valerie, curious, followed suit. Sam put a finger to her lips, signaling Val to stay quiet.

"Pretty cool, sir," said Tucker. "Too bad the beach is private. I wanted to see some girls in bikinis."

Vlad chuckled. "I'll see if I can allow my neighbors' daughters to come visit next time."

Daniel and Tucker laughed.

"If you excuse me, Tucker, may I speak with Daniel alone for a moment before I begin making dinner?" asked Vlad.

There was a moment of silence before Tucker answered, "Uh…sure, I guess."

~0~0~0~

Daniel followed Vlad to his library. He knew he was walking straight into a trap but he didn't care. Daniel would gladly walk into fifty traps if it meant keeping his family and friends safe, especially Sam.

The two men entered the library. Vlad approached his fireplace and pulled on one of the football trophies sitting on the mantel. A trapdoor appeared in the fireplace's place.

Daniel's eyes widened. "Cool!" he exclaimed.

"Oh my boy, you haven't seen anything yet," said Vlad. The two walked down the stairs. Daniel was awestruck by what he saw at the bottom of the stairs: a laboratory. Beakers and flasks sat on multiple countertops, charts and maps lined the walls, and a large window showing the bottom of the ocean.

"An underwater laboratory?" Daniel asked.

"Indeed, Daniel," answered Vlad. "I have been researching marine biology in my spare time. A sort of hobby so to speak."

Daniel saw a poster of a mermaid on the wall. "A mermaid? Seriously?" he asked, pretending to be surprised.

Vlad chuckled. "Why are you acting so surprised, Daniel?"

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked.

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, Daniel," Vlad said with an evil glint in his eye. "I knew your mother who is a mermaid."

Daniel shifted his eyes nervously. "N-N-Now you're talking crazy."

Vlad sighed. "Do I have to spell it out?" he asked himself. He picked up a bucket of water and tried to splash Daniel. He jumped out of the way but some of the water got on his leg.

Vlad's evil smile widened. "Just as I suspected," he said as he saw black scales appear on the boy's leg. "You are a merman."

Daniel looked at Vlad in horror. "H-How did you know?"

"My boy, I knew your mother and father when I was in college," explained Vlad. "I fell in love with your mother but she was in love with that oafish whale of a merman who is your father.

"After your mother refused to leave Jack Fenton, I decided to come up with a way to be with your mother. It was simple, really. I managed to get a blood sample from your ignorant father. Your mother learned of my little project and mistaken it as a way to expose her kind. I wanted to dispose of that fat oaf but before I can put my project to work, Maddie and Jack swam off to get married.

"I was infuriated. Without thinking, I put my project to use before it was complete. The results were disastrous. I had to be put in the hospital for months. By the time I got out it was too late; Maddie had married Jack and I knew that she wouldn't be returning to the surface ever again."

Daniel glared daggers at Vlad. "At least that explains why we've been forbidden to go to the surface for centuries; to avoid corrupted people like you. I was told that Mom came to the surface during a rebellious phase in her life," he said.

"Which brings me to you eleven years ago," Vlad continued. "After years of getting…control over myself, I became exceptionally wealthy. I invited my friend Jeremy Manson and his family to my beach manor for many years. One day their annoying ten-year-old brat of a daughter went to play on my private beach. Not wanting to appear as a cruel man, I reluctantly allowed it. I later found one of my fishing nets with a big hole in it. I suspected the girl. That evening I overheard her speaking to her grandmother about mermaids. That's when I suspected that she had seen a mermaid. I followed her the next day and waited for the specimen to arrive. Sure enough, it did.

"I was not expecting it to be a male. His hair was white as fresh fallen snow. His eyes were glowing neon green. And his tail was jet-black. Too bad that he spotted me and fled but I was ready this time. One of my special droids managed to catch him. Unfortunately, the girl tried to stop me. The boy escaped my grasp while I was distracted. I never saw him again…until recently," Vlad explained.

Daniel cocked his head. "Recently?"

"Fast forward eleven years. The same girl who foiled my plans, now a college student, fell off the pier. One of my droids got footage of the girl being rescued by the same boy I almost caught long ago. Too bad he destroyed it. I informed the girls parents about the girl's accident. Distraught, they immediately went to Amity University to check on her after she was discharged from the hospital. Suspicious of how she survived, I tagged along. A boy came to her dorm to return her wallet that she lost. When she introduced him to us I immediately recognized his last name and I knew he was Maddie's son which made him a merman," Vlad concluded.

Daniel's eyes widened. "You knew this whole time?" he asked, alarmed.

"Of course, I knew. I saw fish scales growing off your hands, boy! I knew it was you. Hearing your audition for the men's choir only confirmed my suspicions," Vlad explained.

"You've been stalking me?!" Daniel yelled, his eyes glowing green in anger.

"Indeed. I read about your specific species and learned that you are quite a rare specimen. Of course there is one other species that is just as rare. It is known as _Homo Fecit __Hybrida_, or 'Manmade Hybrid'," said Vlad.

"I've heard of them," said Daniel. "But they're not born naturally. They can only be made if someone puts mermaid blood in a human…" Realization hit Daniel like a truck hit him. "You mean you…"

Vlad walked over to a sink and turned on the water. He ran his hand under the running water and it started turning blue, webbed and scaly. Daniel's now blue eyes widened in horror.

"That's right," said Vlad as he walked over to Daniel. "The project I was working on was a way to become one of your kind."

* * *

**This was not easy to write! I had to include Plasmius in this! It's not a DP fanfic without him!**

**The next update will be AFTER Christmas! I'll be busy preparing dinner, going to church and seeing friends. So expect the next chapter some time after the 25th.  
**

**Have a very Merry Christmas!  
**


	14. The Pearl

**Hope ya'll had an awesome Christmas! I know I did! Sorry I didn't update yesterday but you know, I was busy playing with my new presents and whatnot.  
**

**Anyway, you're in for a real treat today.**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**The Pearl**

Not wanting to take any chances with Vlad, Sam quickly put her cover-up over her swimsuit and dashed downstairs with Valerie in tow. When they reached the den only Tucker was there. No sign of Daniel or Mr. Masters anywhere.

"Tucker, where's Daniel?" Sam asked nervously.

"He went with Mr. Masters somewhere in the house," Tucker answered just as nervously.

Valerie noticed this sudden change in behavior. "You okay? You seem kind of nervous."

"Well…Daniel has had a bad experience with…Mr. Masters," Tucker explained carefully.

Sam lowered an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I don't know. He doesn't like to talk about it," Tucker fibbed.

Valerie wasn't buying it. "Spill. You're hiding something," she said.

Tucker raised his hands in defense. "It's not my place to say. If you want to get all the grisly details, you're gonna have to ask Danny." He slapped his hand over his mouth, realizing his mistake.

Sam caught that. "Why did you call him 'Danny'? No one calls him that."

Tucker mentally kicked himself for slipping. "It's nothing. A slip of the tongue, you know?" he fibbed.

"Why didn't you go with Daniel and Mr. Masters?" Valerie asked.

"He said that he wanted to speak with Daniel alone," said Tucker. "Probably to patch things up."

"Which way did they go?" asked Sam.

"Uh…uh…can I call a lawyer?" Tucker asked nervously. The way the girls were asking these questions reminded him of a police interrogation.

Having enough of Tucker's stalling, Sam lifted Tucker off the floor by the shirt collar. "I'm going to ask you one more time. Which way did they go?" she growled.

Tucker, trying to act tough, refused to back down. "I…I'm not going to tell you," he said defiantly.

Sam narrowed her eyes. "Valerie. Tucker's PDA is in his front pocket. Could you get it out for me?" she asked.

Valerie did so. "Okay. Now what?"

Sam let go of Tucker who got nervous again when he saw his precious PDA in someone else's hand. Valerie gave the PDA to her Gothic friend.

"Wh-What are you going to do with it?" asked Tucker.

"Val, as you know, PDAs and cell phones don't work well under water," Sam said as she walked to the kitchen. Her two friends followed. She turned on the sink. "Tucker, if you value your PDA you tell us where Daniel and Vlad went." She slowly inched the PDA closer to the running water. Valerie pulled Tucker into a full nelson to keep him from stopping Sam.

The closer Sam got the electronic to the water, the more nervous Tucker became until eventually he caved. "I don't know exactly where they went but they walked down the hallway closest to the dining room! That's all I know!"

Sam pulled the PDA away from the water and turned off the faucet. "See how easy that was?" she asked. She gave the PDA back to Tucker and went in the direction Tucker said Daniel and Vlad went. Valerie and Tucker were quick to follow her.

"Why are you so worried about Daniel?" asked Valerie. "I know you like him but this is turning into paranoia."

"You don't know Vlad like I do," said Sam. "He's manipulative, greedy, and has an ego bigger than Canada."

"What did he do to you that was so horrible?" asked Tucker even though he had a pretty good idea what happened. "Is he, like, a pedophile or something?"

Valerie stuffed Tucker's beret into his mouth. "You need to learn to control that mouth of yours," she told him.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Rest assured, you two, Vlad did not do anything like _that_ to me. No, what he did that was so horrible was…" She stopped herself. Should she really tell them the real reason why she hated Vlad so much? She told Valerie but that was only the partial truth. Would they believe Sam if she told them that she hated Vlad because he almost captured Danny?

"What was it?" Tucker pressed.

Sam shook her head. "Forget it. Let's just say Vlad hurt a really good friend of mine when I was a kid. I'm not going to let Vlad hurt Daniel."

She opened a door that lead to the library. "No one here," she said to herself. She was about to close the door when something in her pocket started glowing.

All three of them gasped.

"What's in your pocket?" asked Tucker.

Sam put her hand in the pocket of her cover-up and pulled out her treasured pearl. It was glowing bright green. The light it was giving off was so bright, the three college students had to shield their eyes.

"What gives?" asked Valerie. "I thought it only reacted when it was in moonlight."

"I don't know what's going on," Sam insisted. She closed the library door. The pearl's light began to dim. "Now why is it getting dimmer?"

Valerie shrugged. "Maybe it's a warning," she suggested. She turned to Tucker who was surprisingly quiet. "You know, you can throw in a few ideas any time now."

"I've got nothing," Tucker fibbed. He had heard stories regarding merfolk's engagement pearls so he assumed that this was something similar to those stories.

Sam decided to experiment and opened the library door again. The glowing became brighter. When she walked in the pearl became even brighter. "I think it's detecting something," she said. She walked into the library with Tucker and Valerie close behind her.

"This is by far the weirdest thing I've ever seen," Tucker said truthfully.

"You and me both," agreed Valerie.

"Okay. So obviously there's something in here that doesn't belong," said Sam.

The three college students scattered around the library. They checked desk drawers, the furniture and every bookshelf but came up with nothing.

"You know, I was kind of hoping that we'd find a book with a button inside or something," said Tucker as his head popped out of a pile of discarded books.

Valerie scoffed. "Do you have any idea how cliché that sounds?" she asked.

Sam was staring at the fireplace. Each time she walked past the fireplace while turning the library upside-down the pearl would glow brighter. It was as if the pearl was _telling_ her where to find Daniel. But that didn't make sense. Danny was the one who gave her the pearl, not Daniel. Maybe Danny put a spell on the pearl to make her feel her emotions or desires. It made sense that she didn't know until now. Sam rarely took any of the items out of her treasure bottle.

Sam took the pearl out of her pocket again and it reacted near the fireplace again. She knew there was something on or around this fireplace. "Guys! There's something off about the fireplace," she said.

Valerie poked her head inside it while Sam checked the bricks. Tucker checked the mantel. He moved the trophies displayed on it to find anything out of place. One trophy was stuck in place. He tugged on it and it moved from its place on a hinge.

The fireplace started to move, making Sam and Valerie jump away from it. In a matter of seconds, a doorway appeared.

"That's even more cliché," Valerie muttered.

Sam looked at the pearl and it stopped glowing. "Ten to one says that we were supposed to find this," she said.

"I don't know, guys," said Tucker. "It's bad enough that we trashed the library. Wouldn't Vlad get angry at us for snooping at something this private?"

Valerie rolled her eyes. "Oh my gosh! Don't you watch TV? Nothing says, 'I've got something to hide' like a secret passageway in the fireplace."

"Nancy Drew has seen more than one of these," Sam added.

Tucker put up his hands in defeat. "Okay, you've made your point. But if we get caught we get banned from this awesome place that means I'll never be able to see cute girls in bikinis again and I'll blame you."

"Fair enough," said Valerie.

The three went down the stairs as quietly as possible. As they turned a corner, they heard voices at the bottom.

"You mean you…" Daniel's voice trailed off.

The three friends went further down the stairs until they saw Daniel with his hand vainly trying to cover a patch of something black on his leg. Vlad walked over to a sink and ran his hand under the running water. Three pairs of eyes widened when they saw the man's hand become blue, webbed, and scaly.

"That's right," said Vlad as he walked over to Daniel. "The project I was working on was a way to become one of your kind."

Sam, Tucker and Valerie covered each other's mouths to keep the other from screaming at what they just witnessed. It was hard to tell who was the most shocked. Valerie for just being introduced to the world of merfolk, Tucker for realizing that he and his best friend were now dealing with a human-merman hybrid, or Sam for seeing that her father's friend had a bigger secret than she thought and that her friend was more than he appeared.

"You tried to become one of us?" asked Daniel.

"I wanted to be with your mother more than anything in the world. I figured if she didn't want to be with me on the surface, maybe she'll want to be with me in the sea," Vlad answered as he flexed his now blue scaly fingers. "When I was discharged from the hospital, I was initially shocked at what I've become. I spent the next several years controlling my new abilities. When I realized that you were Maddie's son, I discovered that I had an advantage."

"You wanted to use me to get to my mom?" Daniel asked angrily, his eyes glowing green. Sam gasped at what she saw. That was the same shade of green as Danny's eyes. It also explained what she saw at the aquarium last weekend. What she saw with Daniel's eyes, it couldn't be a coincidence.

"Well, if it meant a chance to see your mother again, I'll do whatever it takes to see her again," Vlad said.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Daniel growled. His eyes glowed brighter and the pipes on the walls began shaking.

Vlad smiled evilly. "Better control that temper of yours, Daniel. You don't want your friends to get hurt in all this."

The pipes stopped shaking. Daniel glared daggers at the man. "You keep them out of this," he hissed. "This is not about them."

"I know how fond you are with Samantha," said Vlad. "I saw how close you were with her since your arrival here. It reminded me of how close you were with her when you were children."

'_What is Mr. Masters talking about? I didn't meet Daniel until the beginning of the semester.'_

"I knew it," said Daniel. "I knew the moment I saw you that you were the one who tried to abduct me when I was a child eleven years ago." Sam's eye widened. She met Danny eleven years ago. This was starting to become spooky. "If it hadn't been for Sam that day I would most likely be dead. And that is something that I will forever be grateful for."

Vlad laughed. "You sound like you're in love with Samantha," he accused.

Daniel faltered. "I… I…" he hesitated.

Sam leaned forward to hear better but she leaned too far and fell down the stairs. Valerie and Tucker winced when she landed at the bottom. She wasn't seriously hurt but bruises were sure to surface.

Daniel and Vlad turned and saw Sam on the floor.

"Sam?"

"Samantha?"

"Shit," Sam cursed.

* * *

**Man, I'm good! **

**I figured that Sam's pearl should play a more significant role in the story. It will be explained in due time, let me assure you.  
**

**More will come! Stay on your toes!  
**

**You're welcome to do fanart if you wish. I'm no artist so I'd suck.  
**


	15. One in the Same

**Badda boom! New chapter is finally here! This is gonna be juicy!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

**One in the Same**

Vlad frowned at the Goth sitting on the floor nursing her butt from the fall. He wasn't expecting her to find the secret passageway in his library. He knew this was a risky move. The girl obviously hadn't changed since what happened when she was a child.

Daniel ran over to Sam. "Sam? How did you get here? More importantly, _what_ are you doing here?" he asked. Now he was officially scared. How much did she hear?

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," Sam grunted as she got back on her feet. She looked at her host. "What's going on with your hand, Vlad? It looks like something out of a _Goosebumps_ book."

Vlad frowned at the Goth. "Oh? Did you not hear my little tale of woe and heartbreak?" he asked.

"That you're head over heels in love with Daniel's mom? I heard that part," Sam answered. "What I want to know is how you became part-fish."

"So you didn't hear the entire thing? Well I'll just say that a college experiment went wrong and it turned me into a hybrid," Vlad replied.

"I've seen pictures of what you are," said Daniel. "The Manmade Hybrid looks like the Creature From the Black Lagoon."

Vlad gave the pair an evil smile. "And the Phantom Merman is supposed to be the most elusive of his kind. If that's the case, then why do I have you right where I want you?"

Sam turned to Daniel. "Daniel, what is he talking about?"

Vlad's smile widened. "So you didn't tell her, Daniel? How heartless of you. See, I've known Samantha longer than you have and I know more about her than what she's told you.

"Samantha, what I'm saying is that your friend here is a complete phony. He is not what he seems. He's lied to you since the moment you've met him."

Sam sneered at Vlad. "That's not true! Daniel would never lie to me. Right, Daniel?"

The raven-haired boy said nothing. Vlad pretty much exposed him for what he truly was. Knowing that no amount of lies would get him out of trouble this time, he looked down at the floor in shame.

"I'm sorry, Sam," he said solemnly. His blue eyes flashed bright green again and the pipes surrounding the room burst. Water sprayed on all three people. Daniel grabbed Sam's wrist and ran up the stairs.

"Daniel? Sam?" Tucker said as the two sped past him and Valerie. The four students ran up the stairs and went to their rooms to grab their bags.

"Valerie, you need to drive us back to campus," said Daniel. His appearance had changed rather dramatically. His hair went from raven-black to salt-and-pepper, patches of black scales were visible on his legs. A fin, surrounded by black and white scales, was sticking out of his right forearm. And one of his ears turned into a fin.

Valerie stared at him. "Uh…are you sure –"

"PLEASE DON'T ARGUE WITH ME! TUCKER AND I NEED TO LEAVE NOW!" Daniel yelled.

Valerie was stunned at Daniel's sudden change in behavior and ran outside to start the car. Sam, Tucker, and Daniel ran towards the door with their bags in their arms (Sam made sure to bring her treasure bottle). A blast of pink energy slammed the door shut, blocking their only exit.

"Trapped like shrimp in a shrimp net," Tucker squeaked.

The three turned around and saw a blue, scaly creature climbing up the steps. Its black hair was styled like devil horns. Its eyes were blood red, no pupils visible anywhere. His webbed hand was smoking pink. Fins were sticking out of his forearms and his calves. Fin-like ears were sticking out of his head.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING?!" Tucker shrieked.

"L-L-Let's just try to calm down," Sam stuttered, obviously as shocked as her two friends.

"How can I calm down?" Tucker yelled. "Look at him! He looks like something out of a freak show!"

"He looks like Clockwork with fangs," Daniel stated.

Sam looked at Daniel. "Who or what is Clockwork?" she asked.

The creature glared at the trio. "You three aren't going anywhere," it growled.

"IT TALKS!" the trio yelled in shock.

The creature grinned evilly. "Yes…I talk. You know, 'Manmade Hybrid' is so…monstrous. I prefer to be called 'Plasmius' when I'm like this."

The three friends' eyes widened when they realized who and what the creature was. It was Vlad Masters.

"Mr. Masters? Is that you?" Sam asked in surprise.

"Indeed it is me," Plasmius confirmed.

A knock on the other side of the door was heard. "Sam? Daniel? Tucker? What's taking so long? We gotta go!" Valerie's voice yelled.

Sam looked back at the door. She forgot all about Valerie.

"We gotta get out of here," Sam hissed to her friends.

Daniel looked at the door, then at Sam and then Plasmius.

"Tucker, looks like we have no choice," Daniel said to his friend. The boy's blue eyes became bright green again.

"Are you sure?" asked Tucker.

"We might as well let the catfish out of the net," Daniel answered. Sam was looking at the boys bemusedly.

Tucker looked at his friends and then at Vlad. He sighed resignedly. "Clockwork and everyone back home are going to kill us," he muttered.

"I'm willing to take that risk," said Daniel. His fist lit up with green energy.

Tucker groaned in annoyance and his eyes began to light up behind his thick-framed glasses. His fist also began to light up with energy. Both boys then fired energy blasts at the monster, knocking him down the stairs.

"LET'S GO!" yelled Daniel. The trio grabbed their bags and dashed out the door.

"There you guys are," Valerie scolded. "What happened in – hey!" Tucker grabbed her hand and dragged her to the car.

"Less talking, more fleeing!" he yelled.

The four friends jumped into Valerie's car and sped away from the manor.

"That was way too close," Tucker panted.

"You two guys gonna explain to us what the heck is going on?" Valerie yelled as she drove.

"As soon as my heart slows down," said Daniel. His appearance was returning to its human appearance. He knew that there was no turning back now. Valerie and Sam had seen too much. No use lying to them now.

"What happened back there?" Sam asked Daniel. "It's like you were slowly turning into him."

"Well, I…" Daniel started.

"Was Vlad telling the truth about you? And Tucker? How is he involved in all this?" Sam demanded.

"You see…"

"Is anything you told me this semester true at all?" Sam said, her voice quivering. "Have you been lying to me this whole time?" Her purple eyes were flooding with tears. "What have you been hiding?"

Daniel couldn't get himself to answer any of Sam's questions. He looked out the car window and remained silent. He couldn't tell her anything when she couldn't think straight. He'd watched enough TV to know to let her cool off before talking to her.

~0~0~0~

Valerie dropped Sam off at her house. She ignored her parents' surprised questions as to why she was home and locked herself in her room. She buried her face into her pillow and cried her eyes out. Sam hadn't felt this betrayed since she found out Elliot was only pretending to be a Hungarian Goth to get on her good side.

Sam thought Daniel was different from the other boys. He seemed to be funny, smart, caring, and a goofball. At least she thought she did. Now she didn't know what to think about Daniel. Was Vlad telling the truth when he said that Daniel was a merman? Her thoughts immediately went to Danny. She shook her head. _'No! That can't be! They look nothing alike!'_ Then Sam remembered Daniel's appearance after the pipes burst in Vlad's basement. His hair was black and white, his legs had black scales on them, his ear looked like a fin, and a similar fin was sticking out of his arm.

The images of Daniel and Danny appeared in her mind and did a comparison. They looked so much alike. It all came together. Sam cried even harder into her pillow. _'Daniel is Danny! I'm so stupid! How could I miss this? I'm such an idiot! I can't believe that I missed something so obvious!'_

A knock on the door got her attention. "Sammy? Are you all right in there? May I come in?" asked Agnes's voice.

Sam sniffled and took a deep breath before answering. "Y-Yeah. Coming," she sobbed. She unlocked the door and let her grandmother in.

"Now what's with the waterworks?" Agnes asked.

Sam sniffled. "It's D-D-Daniel," she croaked.

"What about him?" she asked. "Did he do something to you? Want me to take you to the hospital?"

Sam managed to squeeze in a chuckle in between her sobs at her grandma's joke. "No. It's nothing like that. We didn't do that. Besides, you can't drive anymore."

Grandma giggled. "You know I'm joking, dear. Now what did this Daniel fellow do? Last week you were going on and on about how sweet he was."

Sam grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. "Vlad told me that Daniel wasn't what he seemed. And it turns out, he was right. Daniel was lying about his identity," she sobbed as a fresh wave of tears came out of her eyes.

"Oh? Do tell," said Agnes.

Sam shook her head no. "I don't know how to explain it. All I know is that he's not what he seems," she mumbled. "What's worse, Vlad is just as bad. He has a completely different life that no one else knows about."

"I always knew that man had something to hide," Agnes muttered.

"I don't know what to do," said Sam, preparing to cry again.

"Did he have any explanation as to why he was pretending to be someone else?" asked Agnes.

"We never had a chance," said Sam. "Vlad tried to attack us and we had to run. I tried to ask Daniel about it on our way back but he wouldn't say anything."

"Sounds like he was ashamed to admit the truth to you," said Agnes.

"Why couldn't he just flat out say it?" asked Sam.

"Would you believe him if he told you?" Agnes asked her granddaughter.

Sam thought about that. If Daniel told her the truth about himself, she'd most likely either not believe him or think he was weird. Maybe he was right to keep it a secret. If Sam were to tell anyone she was a mermaid, they wouldn't believe her either.

"So what you're saying is that I was overreacting?" asked Sam.

"Perhaps you should have heard Daniel's side of the story before walking out on him," said Agnes.

Sam's phone vibrated. She picked it up and saw that she had a text message: **Meet me at the cave. We need 2 talk.**

"It's from Daniel," she said.

Agnes smiled. "I think you've calmed down enough to talk it out with him. Go to him and glue his heart back together."

Sam gave her grandmother a kiss before running out of her bedroom and hopping onto her moped to the beach.

~0~0~0~

Valerie stopped at Tick Tock Clock Shop to drop Daniel and Tucker off. Well, that was what the boys were hoping for. Instead, she parked her car in the back and dragged them inside.

"You two freaks have a lot of explaining to do," Valerie yelled. "I was hoping I'd never have to see that look on Sam's face again but no! You two just had to keep a huge secret from us!"

They entered the back door of the shop. The first thing Daniel and Tucker did was call for help.

"Dick! Help!" they cried.

Dick came down the stairs in his human disguise. "I was expecting you three to be back," he said calmly.

"What do you…? You mean you were expecting us?!" Valerie yelled in surprise.

"I knew what was going to happen at Vlad's manor too," Dick replied.

"You knew?!"

Dick chuckled. "I know everything," he said. He took off his blind man's sunglasses revealing his blood red eyes.

Valerie shrieked. "What…what…what the hell is going on here?!"

"Come upstairs and we'll explain everything," said Dick.

"'We'll?!'" Tucker and Daniel repeated in unison.

"This was inevitable, boys," said Dick. "Upstairs."

They went upstairs to talk.

"What's with all the clocks? These belong to other customers?" asked Valerie.

"Private collection," the men said simultaneously.

Valerie rolled her eyes. "Never mind," she said. "Would one of you please tell me what the hell is going on? Why were there scales and fins growing off of Daniel?"

"To put it simply, Daniel is a merman," Dick started.

Valerie released a doubtful scoff. "Seriously? Yeah and I'm the Tooth Fairy and Sam's the Easter Bunny," she said doubtfully.

Dick rolled his eyes and grabbed Daniel and Tucker's arms.

"Dick?!"

"What are you doing?"

Dick shoved them into the bathroom and into the shower. He then turned on the water and let nature run its course. Daniel and Tucker's appearances changed right before Valerie's eyes.

_SLIP! CRASH! BANG!_

Danny fell on the shower floor while Tucker kept himself from falling with the help of the suction cups on his tentacles on the walls.

Valerie screamed in fright at the sight of the strange creatures in the bathroom. She tried to run but was stopped when the man who was supposed to be Mr. Tock stopped her. His appearance also changed. He looked like a blue fish man.

"Wow! Vlad does look like Clockwork without the fangs," Tucker muttered to Daniel.

Valerie shrieked at Clockwork and broke away from him. However, Clockwork was ready. He held up his cane that was really his Time Staff. "Time out!" he said, pressing a button on his staff. Valerie's body glowed purple and froze. Clockwork picked her up and took her back to the bathroom. "Time in!"

Valerie's body stopped glowing and started moving again. "What the?! What the hell happened? How did I get back in the bathroom?" she asked in alarm.

"Are you ready to hear us out?" asked Clockwork.

Valerie eyed the merman. "You gonna do that weird thing with your cane again?" she asked.

"Yes."

Valerie hesitated before sighing in defeat. "Fine but only because I don't want you doing that weird thing with your cane again." Clockwork nodded and Valerie turned to the two sea creatures in the shower. "You guys are seriously merpeople?" she asked them.

"Yep," said Tucker.

"Pretty much," answered Danny. His tail fin hung in front of his face.

"So why is Little Boy Blue here walking on legs while you two have a tail and tentacles?" asked Valerie.

"I've walked on land for too long," said Clockwork. "When I go into the water or if I want to, I become like this."

"That explains why Daniel looked kind of different when we were leaving," said Valerie. "That also explains why you two kept the whole thing a secret."

"Would you believe us if we straight out told you?" asked Danny.

"Heck, no! I would think you were bonkers."

"Hence why we kept it a secret," said Tucker.

Clockwork turned the water off and used a drying spell on the boys who turned back into their human forms. He then changed back into his human disguise.

"Well, now what do we do?" asked Valerie. "Mr. Masters is something like you guys and he tried to kill us."

"It's coincidence. He's completely different from us. But first thing's first," said Clockwork. "Samantha needs to accept what is happening to you kids."

Daniel frowned. "I don't know, Dick. She didn't take the news very well. I don't know she'll accept all this."

Dick smiled. "I can tell you this, Daniel. She'll listen."

Daniel smiled. He pulled out his cell phone and sent Sam a text message. He then ran for the door. "If you need me, I'll be at the beach," he said as he shut the door behind him.

* * *

**I'm going to put as much fluff into the next as I can! You're going to love it!**

**Please don't hate me but you're gonna have to wait till New Year's Eve for the next chapter. I'm going to see my sister's new in-laws for the weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to work on the new chapter while I'm there but it's going to be tricky.  
**

**Stay tuned!  
**


	16. The Girl From Ipanema

**Sorry I didn't update yesterday. Being on the road for four hours and then cleaning the house upon arrival tends to delay a girl.  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

**The Girl From Ipanema**

Sam sped off as quickly as possible. She wanted to hurry to him. Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer. It was as if it was yelling and screaming at her to go faster and wouldn't shut up about it. This was something that she'd never felt before. Daniel was Danny. Now Sam didn't have to worry about choosing whom to date. It didn't matter anymore. They were the same person.

She eventually made it to the beach and parked her moped. She ran to the cave as fast as her legs could carry her. She noticed that she'd never changed out of her bathing suit and cover-up but she didn't care.

She slowed down when she saw Daniel sitting on top of a rock outside the cave. His icy blue eyes were staring longingly at the full moon. The look on his face was like it was debating whether to be full of hope or full of despair. She wanted to turn that look into a warm smile.

Sam came to a complete stop to catch her breath and cleared her throat to get Daniel's attention. He turned his head in her direction and smiled.

"Glad you came," he said.

"I needed time to think; let it all sink in, you know?" Sam replied. Daniel nodded. An awkward silence followed for a moment. "So…should we talk about this inside?"

Daniel nodded again and gestured her to follow him. The two then entered the cave where Daniel lit a fire with the driftwood that Sam left behind from before using a beam of green energy. Sam stared in awe at what she just witnessed but didn't say anything. Daniel then sadly frowned as he looked at the flames. "I'm really sorry for not telling you about me and Tucker. You have no idea how much I wanted to tell you the truth."

Sam put up a hand to stop him. "You don't have to explain. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't believe you if you told me," she said. "All I ask is that you let me see it with my own eyes."

Daniel blinked. "Just like that? You sure?"

Sam nodded. "I'm sure. Let me see who and what you really are."

Daniel gave her a goofy grin. "So you have wished it, so shall it be," he replied. He took off his sneakers and stepped into the water. Sam took note that his feet and legs began growing black scales. Daniel's blue eyes became neon green. He willed a wave of water to splash his whole body. Rings of light appeared around his waist and went over his body. His legs disappeared and a jet-black tail appeared in their place. His hands became webbed. Fins appeared from his head, arms, and down his back. His black hair became longer and snow white. Patches of black and white scales appeared on his now slightly tanner skin. Two slits appeared on either side of his neck.

When the transformation was complete, Danny gracefully dove into the water. He then resurfaced and waited for Sam's reaction. Sam was speechless when she saw her friend transform into a merman. It was hard for her to believe that the clueless merboy she met when she was a kid was right in front of her.

Danny lifted himself out of the water. Sam moved away to give him space and slowly approached him. She got down on her knees to get a closer look at him. His eyes, now glowing neon green, stared back at her like they did when she met him trapped in a net. Sam slowly touched the sides of Danny's neck and felt his gills.

"You actually have gills," she noted. She then moved her attention to his fin-like ears. "Your ears are _way_ different from mine." She then stared back at his glowing green eyes. "Really cool eyes," she finished.

Danny smiled when he realized that she just analyzed him similar to how he did when they first met. "Cool. You really think my eyes are interesting and amazing?" he asked.

Sam began laughing as she remembered that that was how she explained the human slang version for 'cool' to him long ago. The memory of that day came back to both of them in full swing. There were still several things Danny was blissfully unaware of, such as what certain zoo animals were (he was mostly familiar with sea creatures, not much for land creatures) and what anime was. He hung onto every word Sam told him.

Danny then told her what life was like under the sea. The only downside for Danny was that he didn't have many friends back home because he looked different from the other merfolk. When Sam argued that he looked like any normal merman, he countered it by saying that none of the merfolk back home had black tails or could cast magic without reciting incantations. His people thought his species was dangerous because of the wail. The fact that the wail was strong enough to knock out a blue whale and sink a cruise ship made the Phantom Merman extremely dangerous.

"Only Tucker and my sister were my friends. Everyone else treated me like I was diseased," said Danny.

Sam suddenly gave Danny a huge hug. Danny was surprised, especially since she said that his skin felt slimy to her. "You're forgetting. Valerie and Mr. Tock are your friends too. Even me. I'll always have your back. You're my friend too," she assured him.

Danny blinked. "Even after keeping this huge secret from you? You still want to be friends with someone like me?" he asked.

Sam only hugged him tighter. "After thinking about it, I've realized that you had every reason to keep it a secret. I'm not mad at you anymore. I forgive you. Just tell me you still want to be friends."

Danny hugged Sam back tightly. "Thank you, Sam," he said. He then pulled away from her and stared at her with his glowing green eyes. He scooped Sam into his arms and went back into the water. Sam was startled by this and held onto his neck. He then sped off into the water, not going under for Sam's sake.

The night breeze blew in Sam's face. If this was how Jasmine felt when she rode on Aladdin's magic carpet or how Bella felt whenever she rode on Edward's back, then Sam could relate to them. Several stars twinkled in the clear night sky along with the full moon glowing bright. Sam then smiled as she remembered Danny's story of his fascination with the stars when he was a child.

Danny suddenly flung Sam onto his back and she held onto his neck. "Hang on tight and take a deep breath," he warned. Sam tightened her grip around his neck and took a deep breath. Then next thing Sam knew, they were both under the water. They were only under for a few seconds when Danny leapt into the air and landed back into the water. It was like he was jumping through the water like a dolphin.

A light started shining in Sam's pocket. It got both their attention making Danny stop jumping and slowed down. "What's going on?" he asked.

Sam reached into her pocket and pulled out her treasured pearl glowing bright green. "There it goes again," she noted.

Danny looked up at her. "Has this happened before?" he asked.

"Yeah. It started last night in the bedroom I shared with Valerie at Vlad's mansion. The first time it happened it reacted in the moonlight. We tried testing it out in different kinds of light, like a lamp or sunlight, but nothing happened. Then when you went with Vlad to that secret basement lab, somehow it led me to you," Sam explained.

Danny took the pearl and its light changed from green to purple. "Whoa! Didn't see that coming!" he exclaimed.

Sam stared wide-eyed at the gem. "That's never happened before. This pearl is weird. In all the years that I've had this, it's never done this before."

Danny stared at the pearl in his hand. He wanted to tell her that the pearl was his people's version of an engagement ring. But he couldn't get himself to tell her yet. He didn't want to ruin this moment. Perhaps this pearl could be some sort of protective charm to her until the moment was right.

"It's a long shot but maybe I can turn this into a pendant or some sort of jewelry. Then again I don't think pearls are very Goth," said Danny.

Sam smiled. "I think you can find a way to turn a pearl into a Gothic accessory," she assured him.

Danny handed the pearl back to Sam who put it safely into her pocket. Both made note that the pearl changed back to green when it landed back into Sam's hands. "You trust me with one of your treasures?" he asked.

"I trust all my friends," said Sam.

Danny suddenly cupped her cheek with his webbed hand. He looked deeply into her purple eyes. His face turned bright red. "I…I…I want to be more than just friends," he stuttered nervously.

Sam's eyes widened at this revelation. "D-Danny? Are…are you…"

Danny leaned in and gave her a gentle, passionate kiss. Unlike last time, this kiss was filled with warmth, love, and happiness. Sam felt something within her she'd never felt before. Whatever it was she liked it. She lowered her eyes shut and kissed him back. She put every positive emotion she felt into her kiss.

Was this love Sam was feeling? She didn't know. She'd only gotten to know Danny for a month so it was too soon to tell. She felt some kind of attraction towards him. Sam didn't know if it was because he was a merman or what but maybe if she could look past his fishy features she'd know how she really felt about him. Sam didn't want to be in a relationship based on his looks alone. That was something she was going to make sure didn't happen. That's what Paulina did.

Danny parted the kiss and continued to stare at Sam. "What do you say?" he asked timidly.

Sam smiled. "Why not? I've never dated a merman before. It could be an adventure," she replied.

Danny smiled and took Sam back to the cave. After making sure no one was around the two sat down on a nearby rock and looked at the full moon. For a while they just sat in silence enjoying each other's company.

Danny then nuzzled Sam's neck affectionately and wrapped his tail around her legs. He then suddenly started singing a familiar song:

"_Tall and tan and young and lovely_

_The girl from Ipanema goes walking _

_And when she passes, each one she passes goes – ah"_

Sam smiled as recognized the song. She knew many of these songs from her grandmother's records.

"_When she walks, she's like a samba_

_That swings so cool and sways so gentle_

_That when she passes, each one she passes goes – ah"_

Sam chuckled and decided to join in:

"_Ooh, but he watch her so sadly_

_How can he tell he loves her_

_Yes he would give his heart gladly…"_

The two started laughing and decided to finish the song in unison:

"_But each day that she walks to the sea_

_She looks straight ahead, not at he_

_Tall, tan, young, lovely_

_The girl from Ipanema goes walking _

_And when she passes he smile but she doesn't see…"_

The two then laughed as the song ended.

"Do you have to sing every time the moon is out?" Sam asked.

"Nah. We prefer it if the moon is full. I don't really know why we do it to begin with. I think it's probably because we've been doing it for centuries it's become part of our way of life," Danny explained.

Sam nodded. "That makes sense, I guess."

"If we wanted to, we could use our singing to hypnotize someone into crashing their ships into some rocks. But after what happened with the Titanic, our leaders in Atlantis forbid us from ever using our voices like that again," Danny continued.

Sam blinked. "Your people are the reason the Titanic sank?" she asked.

"Our involvement was instantly dismissed. No one would believe that a mermaid had any involvement with a shipwreck," Danny said blankly.

Sam chuckled. "That explains a lot," she said.

Danny then wrapped his arms around Sam and wrapped his tail around her legs again. "Vlad knows about me," he said seriously. "And he knows about your involvement with me. He'll probably try to use that against us. I'll die if something happened to you."

That part was true. When merfolk mate, they mate for life. If one died the other usually lost the will to live unless there were offspring involved. For Danny, he saw Sam as his ideal mate. If the unthinkable were to happen to her, Danny would lose the will to live and slowly die.

Sam held onto his arms. "Don't worry. I won't let Vlad use me like that. I've kept your existence a secret since the day we met. I'm not about to tell anyone about you now. I promise," she said.

Danny nuzzled his face into Sam's hair. "And I'll always protect you. I promise," he vowed.

Sam turned her head to face him. "I know you will," she said. The two then sealed their promises with a heartfelt kiss.

* * *

**I do not own this song featured in this chapter. I just used it to match the title of it.**

**What do you think? I thought this was pretty cool. Parts of it were rather cliche but sometimes I like cliches.  
**

**I changed Danny's transformation for just this occasion because I thought it would be more dramatic!  
**

**More coming soon!  
**


	17. Fall Break

**I'm going to fast forward a few weeks so I can set up another nice fluffy moment for our heroes. Plus, I also included another minor character into this chapter just because I wanted to.  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 17**

**Fall Break**

For the next week, Sam and Valerie learned more about the world of merfolk. Sam was surprised that Dick Tock was actually the Master of Time. She was a little freaked out when she saw his real form but after a little reassurance from Danny and Tucker, she grew to accept him as a friend as well. She was also shocked about Tucker's true form. The fact that he had not two, but six legs shocked her as well.

Fall Break in October came by surprise for everyone several weeks later. Sam reluctantly returned to the city while Valerie went to Elmerton to be with her dad. Daniel and Tucker went back home to be with their families.

Tucker grabbed what's left of Vlad's droids for analysis. He put the pieces in the secret grotto to look at later. The two then swam home.

"Danny!" Jazz exclaimed, pulling her little brother in a big hug. "I've missed you so much! How's the surface?"

"Great Jazz. Now can you please let me go? You're squeezing me too tight," said Danny.

Jazz let go of Danny only to be pulled into a bear hug by his father. "Danny-boy! Glad to see you're home! How's my pal Vladdie?"

"Glad to see you too, Dad," Danny gasped. "And Vlad's doing…just fine." Some things are better left unsaid. And this was one of them.

Maddie then yanked Danny out of Jack's grip to be hugged by her. "Oh, my baby! Did you go to Vlad's? Did he hurt you?" she asked in a panic.

"I'm doing well in college too," Danny gagged, trying to get water back into his gills through his mother's tight embrace. "No, Vlad did not hurt me. We got out before he could do anything to us."

Maddie kissed his son's cheek. "Thank Neptune you're alright. Now go get settled in."

Danny swam up to his room and placed his suitcase on his bed. Not wanting to just linger around in his room all day, he swam out his window to explore and hopefully find unfamiliar items to bring back with him for Sam to tell him about for old times' sake.

Danny scanned the ocean floor looking for anything interesting. Nothing interesting was found except for an old game controller, a black ball with an eight on it, and a crystal ball with a snowman inside it.

He put these items in his satchel and swam off to find more when he bumped into a fellow merman. This fellow was grey from top to bottom. His hair was styled in a bob cut, wore thick-framed glasses like Tucker's, and buck teeth. Danny groaned. He'd bumped into the _'Cursum Tructa'_ or "Geek Trout" known as Sidney Poindexter. The two had never got along to begin with especially since their first encounter started as a misunderstanding.

Poindexter scowled. "Watch where you're going, Phantom," he snarled.

Danny scowled back. "You watch it, nerd."

Poindexter eyed Danny's satchel. "Collecting human items again? This junk is useless to them and it's useless to us. Why are you still collecting them?"

"None of your business," Danny snapped.

Tucker approached the two. He was carrying more scrap metal from another one of Vlad's droids Danny destroyed on their way home earlier this morning. "Danny! I got the rest of – hey, Sidney! How are things back at Leviathan?" he asked.

Poindexter pushed his glasses higher on his face. "Tucker Foley, the Magic Science Club's best spell caster. Good to see you again. How are things with the Phantom?" he asked.

"Sid, I told you. Danny was only pulling that prank because Ricky Marsh put a sea urchin in his seat," Tucker defended. "And frankly putting a farting flounder in Ricky's seat as payback was pretty funny."

"That doesn't mean Phantom has to fight fire with fire," Poindexter argued. He then saw what Tucker had in his tentacles. "Hey, whatcha got there?"

"Like I said, none of your business," Danny answered for Tucker.

"Dude, Sid knows a lot about human technology. He can help us," Tucker reasoned.

Poindexter adjusted his glasses. "Living in a sunken battleship does have its advantages," he stated.

"Makes me wonder why he isn't physically fit if he lives in a military ship," Danny muttered only to be smacked upside the head by Tucker.

"Come on, Danny. Sid might be able to help us," said Tucker. "He might be able to tell us how these things work. It can work to our advantage."

Danny thought about it and sighed in defeat. "Alright but we do it at his place. No way we're mixing this stuff up with our collection."

Tucker nodded. "Right. This stuff is strictly business. Can't mix it up with our hobby."

~0~0~0~

Sam looked at the flyer her mother got in the mail and grimaced. "They're calling it the 'Fall Ball'? That's such a pathetic name," she said to Pamela.

"I think it sounds clever," Pamela argued.

"Lame," Sam coughed.

"I heard that, young lady!"

"Why are you so bent on going to this stupid dance at the country club?" Sam asked. She was the only one who knew that half the members at the country club couldn't stand her mother.

"We're going to be with our friends," said Pamela. "Besides, Paulina and Star are going to be there."

Sam groaned. "I hate them both! What in your right mind makes you think that we're friends?"

"Weren't you good friends in grade school?"

"Hell no! They always hated me."

"Sheesh Pammy! Just let her invite some of her college friends to this stupid thing," said Agnes as she wheeled herself into the room.

Pamela scowled. "Like that Valerie girl? As soon as her father gets a well-paid job, I'll add her to the invite list."

"I wonder if Danny and Tucker have phones where they live…" Sam wondered.

"Absolutely not!" Pamela, who heard her daughter, yelled.

Sam scowled at her mother. "Why not?" she asked.

"You're not going to be dancing with some middle-class boy who wants to get you into bed with him first chance he gets," Pamela reasoned.

"Not all boys are like that!"

"Half your high school friends did the same thing and look what happened to them."

"Daniel is different…and so is Tucker!" Sam exclaimed. She stormed out of the house with a flyer in her hand. This stupid ball was just going to be another boring dance filled with people who supposedly know Sam but she hadn't met them in her life. She got into her mother's car and drove to the beach on the edge of town. Sam knew it was a long shot but maybe she could invite Danny to this stupid ball so she could have someone to talk to. Too bad cell phones don't work underwater.

Sam parked in the parking lot and walked toward the shore. She picked up a rock wrapped it with the flyer and tried it with a rubber band she swiped from her father's desk. Sam then threw the rock as far as she could. The rock landed in the water and sank to the bottom out of sight.

Sam pulled out her pearl and stared at it. The sunlight glared off the gem's surface. Sam hoped beyond hope that Danny would find her message.

~0~0~0~

"For starters this thing was designed after the piranha found in the Amazon River," Poindexter explained after looking over Vlad's droid and laying the pieces out on a table. "Judging by the looks of this thing, it looks like the thing was built for observation and capturing," he explained, pointing to the remains of a video camera and a net that hadn't been fired.

"I fried one of these a while back," Danny recalled.

"I know," said Tucker. "I blasted three of them to kingdom come last week."

"Vlad probably has several of these things swimming all over the place," Danny said.

Poindexter paled. "You mean that there are more of these things?" he asked worriedly.

"Someone is spying on us and wants to either expose us to the human race or he wants to become one of us," Danny said grimly.

"Someone wants to become a Manmade Hybrid?" Poindexter asked in alarm. "Those things are as dangerous as the Phantom Merman." Danny scowled at him. "Humans who become a Manmade Hybrid use their newfound powers for personal gain. They won't take no for an answer. Not to mention they're obsessed with one woman in particular. If they meet a woman they want as a mate, they won't leave her alone until that happens."

"Sounds like Vlad is one seriously crazed-up fruit loop," Danny murmured.

"I heard that human women have the same problems as the females down here," Poindexter added. "I didn't know there were stalkers on the surface. I guess you'll find them in every race."

"You'd be surprised," said Tucker.

"We need to find out what exactly Vlad wants with us," said Danny. "He obviously became a Plasmius for some reason other than to get with my mom."

"Plasmius?" Poindexter repeated.

"That's what Vlad calls himself."

Poindexter nodded then became wide-eyed when he realized something else. "This Vlad fella wants to get with your mom?"

Danny nodded grimly.

Poindexter grimaced. "That is sick and wrong! It's official. Humans are disgusting!"

The three boys left the USS Casper to find more pieces of Vlad's droids. The US battleship, the USS Casper sank off the coast of California shortly before the United States entered World War II due to a flaw in its design. Luckily no one was killed when it sank. The humans would have gotten the ship out of the water but Pearl Harbor happened and they never got around to do it. The ship had been sitting on the ocean floor ever since.

"Humans are so lazy these days," Poindexter grumbled as he picked up a rock wrapped in a piece of paper. "Can't even use a garbage can. Is it so hard to just hold onto your trash until you find a trashcan? Their law enforcement obviously doesn't take littering seriously."

"That's one of the reasons my Aunt Alicia left her husband," Danny said. His aunt was one of the few merfolk who left her mate without dying of heartbreak, probably because both of them hated each other.

Poindexter unwrapped the rock and looked at the piece of paper. "I can't read human English," he said.

Danny took the paper from Poindexter and saw that it was a flyer. "What's a 'Fall Ball'? Sounds pretty stupid if you ask me," he said.

"There's some writing on the back," said Tucker.

Danny turned it over and saw a written message on it:

_**You can come if you want to. It will be nice to talk to someone I know for a change. Come if you can. Sam**_

Danny's heart began to flutter. Sam wanted to see him even during break. The date said that the gathering was on Sunday. Danny grabbed the flyer and swam home faster than a great white shark.

~0~0~0~

"I'm glad you can come on such short notice," said Vlad.

"This is way beyond my jurisdiction," the siren joked sarcastically. "I don't work for you lousy humans."

Vlad chuckled. "Oh my dear. I'm actually a Manmade Hybrid."

The siren gasped. "Are you serious? My people consider that breed a crime against nature."

"I'll let that slide. Now can you find the boy or not?"

The siren sighed. "That's going to be tricky. See, merfolk and sirens have been natural rivals for centuries because we're immune to each other's singing spells. Not to mention, they're more popular with the public than the sirens."

"That won't be an issue. Whatever boy is not under your spell is the one I'm looking for. Just make sure you bring him here alive. And try to do this as quietly as possible. I'd hate to expose two mythical creatures in one evening," said Vlad.

The siren smiled evilly. "I'll give it a shot. You sure the dipstick will come?" she asked.

"His ideal mate will be there. She hates going to these things against her will. She's always been rather rebellious. She'll most likely invite him behind her mother's back," said Vlad. "It's a long shot but I'm willing to take it."

The siren let out a 'humph'. "The dipstick better show up. I hate fighting against merfolk. If we don't turn them into fishsticks, they're turning us into buffalo wings. You better still pay me whether or not I catch him," she warned.

Vlad smiled. "Don't worry, my dear. You'll get paid for the job," he lied.

* * *

**I think it's safe to say who the siren is! **

**Not only am I setting up another fluffy moment but I'm also including a battle scene too even though I'm terrible at writing them! The battle won't take place in the next chapter but the one after that...hopefully. I have to see how this goes.**


	18. Simple and Clean

**Man! I could NOT get this out of my head! I don't know your opinion about the song I chose but I love it! I hope you like it too!  
**

**ENJOY! Squee!  
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* * *

**Chapter 18**

**Simple and Clean**

"Danny, why are you so determined to impress this human girl?" Jazz asked as they packed Danny's belongings for his return to the surface. "You do realize that she's human and…you're not."

"Jazz, Sam's totally aware of what I really am," Danny replied.

Jazz stopped herself. "What did you say?" she asked in alarm. "She knows?!"

"Relax," Danny assured her. "She's sworn to secrecy. She won't tell a soul."

"Mom! Da – mmmfff!" Jazz yelled only to have her mouth covered by her little brother.

"Keep it down," Danny hissed. "If Mom and Dad know I'm dating a human they'll freak out." He let go of his sister's mouth.

"Unbelievable! You're dating a human who knows about us, you're going to a human college, and now you're going to a get-together on the surface? What's next? You offering a pearl to her and telling her you love her?" Jazz asked exasperatedly.

"Well…" Danny trailed off.

Jazz eyes went wide as she realized what Danny meant. Before she could scream, Danny fired a beam of goop at her mouth, silencing her.

"MMM-mmm!" Jazz screamed underneath muffled gag.

"Sorry Jazz but you made me do it," Danny apologized. "If you tell Mom and Dad about me and Sam, they'll be against it."

"Mmmm-mmmm-mmm-MMM!"

"She doesn't know about the pearl's significance yet," said Danny. "I don't know when I'll tell her but I will eventually."

"Mmmmmmm-mmm-mmmm?"

"Eleven years ago," Danny answered. "Back then no one told me that giving a pearl to a girl meant asking her to marry me!"

"Mmmmm-mmmmmm-hmm?"

"Because I'm not obsessed with romance novels like you still are."

Jazz narrowed her eyes. "Hmph!"

"Promise you won't tell Mom and Dad?"

"Mmm-mmm!" Jazz shook her head.

"Jazz, I've never asked anything from you. Sam means a lot to me. She always makes me feel so happy. I've never felt this way about anyone before," said Danny. "I…I love her."

Jazz rolled her eyes. "Hmmm…Mmmph!" she nodded.

Danny smiled and snapped his fingers. The green goop dissolved from Jazz's face.

"Blugh! I hate it when you do that," she sneered.

Danny shrugged. "How else am I supposed to make you listen?" he asked.

Jazz ignored the rhetorical question and moved on to something more important. "Do you know how to dance?" she asked.

Danny was about to answer but stopped himself when he realized that he didn't know how to dance like a human. Jazz started giggling at her brother's face.

"You are so clueless," she said. "I may not know any steps but I know some movements that might help you in the long run."

"You think it will work? I don't want to step on her feet," said Danny.

Jazz laughed. "At least give her a warning before you start dancing. Now put your hand on my back and your other hand in mine," she ordered. Danny did so and Jazz put her other hand on her brother's shoulder. "Now the key is that you have to lead and she's expecting you to."

"How do you know all this?" he asked.

"I took a theatre class last semester as an elective," Jazz explained. "Human dancing was one of the subjects."

"That's convenient."

"Yes it is. Now here we go. One, two, three…One, two, three…"

~0~0~0~

Sunday came and so did the Fall Ball. Sam was anything but excited about it. She wore a black and purple dress with low-heeled shoes despite her mother's protests.

Sam couldn't wait for Fall Break to end so she could return to campus and be with Danny. Ever since he revealed his secret to her, the two seem to be even closer than before. His first choir concert went off well, especially his solo. Tucker became a member of the Science Club and was doing well with his fellow geeks.

The music drawled on and on. Sam didn't know any of the songs that were playing. Why couldn't they play Dumpty Humpty or Green Day? Sam didn't care if they played Justin Bieber up to this point. Anything would be better than the crap her mother had playing.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Goth loser alone again," Paulina jeered as she approached the Goth. Dash, Kwan and Star were not far behind her.

"Why are you here?" asked Star. "This is a happy occasion. The funeral home is down the street." The group started laughing.

"Yeah. Who died?" Kwan added, causing the four to laugh even harder.

Sam fought hard not to walk away because if she did, it would tell the A-listers that she couldn't stand her ground. She was not weak. Her eyes threatened to water but Sam fought it.

She took a deep breath before making a comeback. "No one's died yet. Give yourselves a few years and your looks will be the first to die," she said.

Star and Paulina gawked at her.

"Our looks will never fade away," Star defended.

"With the amount of time you're spending tanning, you'll have wrinkles by the time you're forty," said Sam.

"Take that back, freak!" Paulina snapped.

"I've taken Health class. I know the facts," said Sam.

"She's bluffing," said Dash. "Let's get out of here." Sam noticed that Dash pulled out a flask from his coat pocket as they were walking away but didn't say anything. With how boring this ball was going, she'd take any kind of excitement.

Sam walked outside to get some fresh air. She couldn't stand these people's company anymore. She sighed in boredom.

Agnes then wheeled herself outside to keep her granddaughter company. "Bored out of your wits, huh?" she asked.

Sam chuckled. "You have no idea, Grandma. As soon as I graduate, I'm going to move to the other side of town and change my cell phone number so Mom can't invite me to any more of these stupid things."

"What my son sees in your mother I'll never know," Agnes muttered. "See any boys in there worth your time?"

"Grandma, I told you. I already have a boyfriend," Sam reminded Agnes.

"Oh, that's right. That Daniel Fenton fellow, right? Sorry, my memory is not what it used to be," said the old woman. "Bring him over to the house sometime. I'd like to meet the boy."

Sam smiled. "You'd love him, Grandma. He has raven-black hair and these icy blue eyes. And sometimes he has this goofy grin on his face whenever he laughs."

"Kind of like that party crasher that's walking our way?" Agnes asked, pointing to a young man walking stealthily towards them, making sure security guards didn't see him.

Sam straightened up and squinted her eyes to see better in the darkness. There he was walking towards the two. He wore a light blue button-down shirt with a navy blue jacket with matching pants and a plum necktie.

"Sam!"

Sam's eyes widened. "Daniel? Is that you?" she asked.

Daniel walked up the steps and met up with Sam. "Sorry I'm late. Sneaking past security was harder than I thought," he explained. "I got your invitation shortly after I went home."

Before Sam could answer, Agnes stepped in. "Why didn't you use those cellular phones you young people are always using these days?" she asked.

Daniel was taken aback at the old woman's outburst. "Uh, I left my cell phone at my apartment?" he answered.

Sam stepped in. "It's a long story, Grandma. Daniel, this is my grandmother, Agnes Manson. Grandma, this is Daniel Fenton."

Agnes shook Daniel's hand. "Sammy talks about you all the time. You're one lucky bastard to date my only granddaughter," she said.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Oh boy! Here come the death threats," she muttered.

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Death threats?" he repeated.

"You break her heart, I'll break your nose," Agnes threatened. Daniel seemed shocked but calmed down when the old woman started laughing. "I'm kidding! I know you're going to treat Sammy well."

Daniel chucked nervously unsure if she was kidding or not.

"Grandma, you're scaring him," Sam scolded.

"I just want to make sure he doesn't break your heart like that Elliot rat did," Grandma reasoned.

"I already told him about that!"

"Well, as long as he knows," said Grandma. "How about you two lovebirds make yourselves useful and get that DJ to play decent music? I can't stand this crap your mother is playing!"

Sam smiled. "Okay, Grandma. We'll see what we can do."

"See if that DJ will play some Rat Pack. I can never get enough of Frank and the boys."

Danny waved to Agnes before going inside with Sam. "Nice meeting you, Mrs. Manson," he said.

"Call me Agnes."

"Okay…Agnes."

The two walked inside.

"You have money on you?" asked Sam.

Danny checked his wallet. "I have ten dollars and fifty cents. Why?"

"If you pay the DJ five dollars he'll play one song of your choice," Sam explained.

Daniel smiled and walked over to the DJ. He placed a five-dollar bill in the man's hand and whispered his request. Daniel then returned to Sam and dragged her to the dance floor and waited for his song to play.

"May I have this dance?" he asked chivalrously.

Sam smiled. "Merci," she said.

"_When you walk away, you don't hear me say please_

_Oh baby, don't go_

_Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight_

_It's hard to let it go…"_

Sam gasped as she recognized the song from one of her favorite video games. Daniel grabbed her hand and put his other hand on the small of her back. Sam then put her free hand on his shoulder. The two then began slowly dancing to the music.

"_You're giving me too many things _

_Lately you're all I need_

_You smiled at me and said,_

'_Don't get me wrong I love you_

_But does that mean I have to meet your father?_

_When we are older you'll understand _

_What I meant when I said no_

_I don't think life is quite that simple…'"_

Sam looked off at the sidelines and saw that her mother was throwing a fit about the song choice and was trying to persuade the DJ to change the music back.

As the music started singing through the chorus again, Sam looked up at Danny. "I didn't know you could dance," she remarked.

"You can thank my sister," said Danny. "I'm just worried that I'll step on your feet."

Sam giggled. "I'll prepare for the worst."

"_The daily things that keep us all busy_

_Are confusing me_

_That's when you came to me and said,_

'_Wish I could prove I love you_

_But does that mean I have to walk on water?_

_When we are older you'll understand _

_It's enough when I say so_

_And maybe some things are that simple…'"_

In a way some of the lyrics spoke a message to Sam on her life since the beginning of the semester. The things she and Valerie had been doing since the year began kept them both in the dark about their two new friends.

The chorus started again when people started clearing the dance floor to give the two lovebirds space.

As Daniel spun Sam around, Dash exclaimed, "Fenton actually knows some moves! Who knew!"

Paulina sneered at her boyfriend. "Why can't you dance like that?" she asked Dash. "Look at them. They remind me of the ballroom scene from 'Beauty and the Beast'."

"You know, you're right. They kind of do," Star realized.

"I wish I could dance like that," said Kwan.

"As soon as you learn to not stomp on my feet your wish will be granted," Star replied.

"_Hold me_

_Whatever lies beyond this morning_

_Is a little later on_

_Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all_

_Nothing's like before…"_

Daniel held Sam tighter as the song began to die down. This was something he'd wanted to do since he was in high school. True, there were dances at his high school, Aumakua High, but Danny and Tucker's dates were simply just pity dates. They didn't even hang out with them during prom. This was something Daniel was not going to forget for the rest of his life.

Knowing that his people were against his decision about dating a human, Sam decided to give Daniel a reassuring kiss.

Daniel was taken by surprise by this but kissed Sam back. "Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all. Nothing's like before," he whispered in Sam's ear, echoing the final words to the song. He didn't care what his people said about him anymore. All that mattered was the young woman in his arms.

Little did either of them know was that another uninvited guest just entered the room. She saw her target in the middle of the dance floor surrounded by other party guests applauding their dance. She smiled evilly as her grip on her guitar case tightened in excitement.

* * *

**I do NOT own 'Simple and Clean'! It rightfully belongs to Utada Hikaru! **

**Again, I've had the dance scene stuck in my head for the longest time! I HAD to write it down! This song is so pretty! I love it!  
**

***ahem* Anyway, we have some action coming your way. Stay tuned!  
**


	19. Siren

**Alas! My Winter Break has come to an end! Which means that updates will now slow down. I hate that!  
**

**Classes start tomorrow for me.  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 19**

**Siren**

Daniel and Sam walked to the punch bowl for a drink after their dance. This was one evening Sam would never forget. Normally she'd want to forget these kinds of occasions because it's the country club but since Daniel was here it was different.

Sam loved it whenever Danny embraced her. It made her feel loved and protected. The way he embraced her was like she was a lifeline he refused to let go of. Sam didn't blame him. With everything that's been going on lately, he probably didn't want anything to happen to her.

"That was probably the best time I've ever had at these stupid things," said Sam, giving Daniel a cup of punch.

"Are you serious?" asked Daniel.

"I'm not kidding. Every year I go to these things and I spend the entire evening drinking punch and pretending I'm having a good time for a bunch of strangers I've never even met," said Sam.

"That sounds rough," Daniel muttered.

Sam gulped down her punch. "You have no idea," she replied.

"I think I can relate," said Daniel. "Tucker and I have always been outcasts at school."

"Even Tucker?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"Anyone who associates himself with the Phantom – me – is considered an outcast. In other words, if you're friends with me you're an outcast," Daniel explained bluntly.

Sam frowned. "That doesn't seem fair."

"I know. Every time Tucker and I got dates to a school dance in high school, they were pity dates," said Daniel.

"Not really a date but plenty of pity," Sam murmured. Daniel nodded sadly. Sam placed her hand on his. "Danny, this is not a pity date," she assured him. "This is the most fun I've had since you took me out to the aquarium."

Daniel smirked. "You know I was the one who made those fish swim like that."

Sam looked at him in disbelief. "That was you?" she asked. His smirk only got bigger in reply. "Oh my gosh! It was you! I saw your eyes glowing that day but I only dismissed it as a trick of the light."

"You saw my eyes light up? I thought you weren't looking."

"I looked at you for a split second and your eyes looked like they were glowing."

"Next time I better be more careful," Daniel told himself. Sam giggled and took another sip of her punch when another song began playing.

_"Yeah! Ohhh-ohhh!_

_ It was, it was September_

_ Wind blows, the dead leaves fall…"_

Sam looked up to see who was singing the song. A girl was standing on stage where the DJ was. She was singing into a microphone with a magenta guitar in her hands. Her face was a deathly white. Black streaks were painted around her green eyes. Her hair, which was pulled into a ponytail, was dyed an aqua blue.

_ "To you, I did surrender_

_ Two weeks you didn't call_

_ Your life goes on without me_

_ My life a losing game._

_ But you should, you should not doubt me_

_ You will remember my name…"_

If Daniel's fin-ears were visible they'd be pressed flat against the sides of his head. Whoever this girl was, she sounded terrible to him. She started giving him a headache.

_"Oh, Ember, you will remember_

_ Ember, one thing remains_

_ Oh, Ember, so warm and tender_

_ You will remember my name!"_

Sam looked around and saw that half the people in the room suddenly stopped dancing, talking, eating, and drinking. That was odd behavior in her book.

"Jeremy? Jeremy! What are you staring at?" Pamela asked her husband. "Jeremy! Snap out of it!"

"Dash? What are you staring at? That's the same look you have whenever you watch football on TV," said Paulina.

"And then what? Come on, Kwan! Finish your story. Kwan!" Star tried talking to her boyfriend. "Hellooooooo? Earth to Kwan?" She waved her hand in front of Kwan's face but he didn't react.

Sam noticed that only the men were acting weird, not the women. "What's going on? Suddenly half the people here are acting like zombies," she noted.

"And I'm getting a serious migraine," Daniel said through gritted teeth. He was rubbing his temples at this point.

"You're, like, the only guy who is not acting zombified right now. What's going on?" Sam demanded.

"The only guy?" Daniel repeated.

"Yeah. Every guy is acting like a zombie. They're not moving at all."

Daniel winced at the pain in his head. "How long have they been acting like this?" he asked.

"I'm going to say since that girl started singing on stage," Sam answered.

Daniel looked up and got a good look at the girl. He saw that she was the one who was giving him a headache. That could only mean one thing.

"That girl is the reason why the guys are acting weird," said Daniel. "She's a siren."

Sam looked at Daniel and then at the girl. "A siren? Are you kidding me?" she asked in disbelief.

"Look around you, Sam. The men are acting weird, nothing's wrong with the women, and I have a headache that's so bad I think my head is going to split in two! All of this started when that girl started singing," said Daniel.

"If that's the case then how come you're not affected?" Sam asked her boyfriend.

"Merfolk are not affected by the siren's singing. Their singing only gives us major headaches and vice versa," Daniel explained.

"Your singing gives sirens headaches?"

"Yeah. They're our natural rivals. Probably because we're technically supposed to do the same thing: lure people at sea to their deaths."

"What should we do?" asked Sam.

The girl stopped singing and walked off the stage. She then walked through the crowd, which was still in a daze, towards the two.

"Since you're the only one who is not staring out into space, I'm guessing you're the one I'm looking for," said the girl.

"Who are you?" Sam asked.

"Ember McLane," said the girl. "I've been hired to perform here."

"Yeah right," Daniel scoffed. "Last I heard people like you live off the Mediterranean coast. What are you doing all the way here on the Pacific Coast?"

"I was called here to do some searching," Ember replied. "I'm looking for a very elusive fish. Almost as elusive as a _phantom_…"

Daniel tensed up. _'So she knows…'_ He held back the urge to flash his eyes green as a warning to the siren. "Let's take this outside," he growled.

Ember chuckled. "Wanting to keep these lousy humans out of this? Fine," she shrugged. "Follow me." She walked outside and shut the door. The second it closed all the men in the room snapped out of their hypnosis.

"Stay here," said Daniel. "I'll take care of her."

"How are you going to do that?" asked Sam. "You can't exactly fight her in your true form."

"My powers may be limited in this body but I can still fight," Daniel assured her.

Sam sighed in defeat. "Fine. Just be careful, okay?"

Daniel kissed her forehead. "I will. I promise."

Sam smiled. "Now go before my mom sees you." Daniel then nodded and followed Ember outside as Pamela approached her daughter.

"Well that was certainly odd," Pamela remarked. "I wonder why your father and several other members started staring off into space like that?"

"Maybe they were so amazed with the entertainment this year that they were staring at the singer in awe," Sam lied.

"Maybe. Now what was your friend Daniel doing here? He's not a member and he certainly was not invited here," said Pamela.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Isn't it obvious? He wanted to dance with me. Besides, I'm the one who invited him so I could actually talk to someone whose company I can actually stand."

"He is not someone you can be with," said Pamela. "That cheap suit he wore obviously came from Sears. If he were someone worth your company he'd have bought a suit from Brooks Brothers or Joe A. Bank."

"I don't care if he wore rags to this thing. I'm glad he came," Sam argued. "Don't you want me to be happy?"

"I want you to be happy with the right people."

Sam was steaming at this point. "Then you need to rethink about who the right people are for me," she said as she stormed away from her mother.

~0~0~0~

Daniel followed Ember to the golf course. He knew that she was a siren. The question was what she was doing here. Sirens were native near the Mediterranean Sea, specifically near Greece obviously. They lured their victims to their watery graves by singing a hypnotic melody. Their least favorite food was anything with honey in it, obviously from how Odysseus thwarted their attempts to lure him to his death by putting beeswax in his ears.

"Okay, obviously Vlad sent you here. What do you want?" Daniel demanded.

Ember spun around to face him. "You catch on quickly. Yeah, the cheesehead called me here to get you. You've intrigued him," she said.

Daniel narrowed his blue eyes. "How so?"

"Not many people have seen a _Phantasma Nereiorum Formant_ long enough to get a good look at him," said Ember. "And not many people willingly turn into Manmade Hybrids either."

"He prefers to call himself Plasmius," Daniel stated.

"I know. Fitting name if you ask me."

"So how have I intrigued him?"

"You remind him of himself," said Ember. "Both your breeds are considered outcasts to your people if memory serves me correctly. If that's the case, Vlad thinks outcasts need to stick together."

"In other words, he wants me to join him," Daniel concluded.

"You got that right, dipstick," Ember confirmed.

"Tell him forget it. I'd rather be sushi than with that seriously crazed-up fruit loop," said Daniel.

Ember's green eyes glowed brighter at that response. "Wrong answer, dipstick," she growled. Her normal blue hair flashed to life, like it was now suddenly on fire. Feathers sprouted from her arms, forming what appeared to be a cross between arms and wings. Her teeth suddenly became pointier as well as her ears.

Daniel flinched. "If you think that is going to make me change your mind, you're wrong," he said.

"I guess I'll have to make you change your mind," Ember growled. She turned the dial of her guitar and strummed her guitar, causing sound waves to burst out of the instrument and blowing Daniel off his feet.

"Didn't see that coming," Daniel said to himself. "Alright. Better stop messing around." His eyes changed from blue to green. He fired a beam of energy from his hand at Ember.

She flapped her wings and flew up into the air before she was hit. She landed on a nearby tree branch and turned the dial on her guitar again. She strummed it and a blast of energy in the form of a fist came out of the guitar. Daniel was hit point-blank.

"Give it up, dipstick," Ember taunted. "That human disguise of yours is no match for me. And since you don't have any legs in your true form this fight pretty much goes to me."

Daniel looked around the golf course for something, anything that could give him the upper hand. He saw a pond nearby and decided that that would have to do. Although Ember was right about him at a disadvantage, she didn't know that Daniel had a trump card up his sleeve.

Seizing his chance, the boy ran towards the pond and dove in it. His human disguise melted away, revealing his merman state. He jumped from the water and fired ice beams from his eyes at the siren before landing in the water again. She flew into the air again before the ice beam hit, causing the tree she was in to freeze.

"You think you've evened the odds? Well you're wrong," said Ember. She strummed her guitar again as Danny leapt out of the water again for another attack but was knocked to the side by a sound wave. He landed on the grass as Ember landed on the frozen tree. "Give it up, dipstick. This battle is mine."

Danny released a dark chuckle. "Don't you know why the Phantom Merman is so notorious?" he asked mischievously.

"Like I care about anything regarding your kind," Ember scoffed.

"How about I show you?" Danny asked.

He then took a very deep breath.

* * *

**Hehehehe! This is gonna be good! **

**Like I said, updates are gonna slow down since Winter Break is now over for me! Please be patient for the next chapter...whenever it's gonna update!  
**


	20. The Wail

***Yawn!* Man, getting back into the swing of things is exhausting!  
**

**Anyway, the new chapter is here. It's not my best work but I hope you like it anyway.  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 20**

**The Wail**

Sam decided to leave early and return to campus. She'd have to go home first to change her clothes. However, since her family came in one car, Sam had no choice but to start walking. It was stupid to walk back home by herself, she knew that, but she couldn't stand her parents' company anymore.

As she walked away from the front gates and turned around the corner, she heard the worst sound her ears had ever heard. It sounded like a banshee wailing but ten times louder. Sam covered her ears to try and block out the wail but it wasn't working. Even with her hands covering them, Sam's eardrums felt like they were going to start bleeding. The sound of a tree falling was heard along with the wail.

The wail then stopped suddenly. All was quiet. It was quite soothing to Sam despite the fact that her ears were still ringing.

The silence was broken when she heard someone shriek from the other side of the hedges.

"You dipstick! Do you have any idea how long it's going to take for my feathers to grow back?"

It was Ember. That meant that Danny must have been fighting her. Concerned for her boyfriend, Sam managed to squeeze her way through the hedges to see what the ruckus was about.

She saw Danny, in his fish form, lying unconscious in the grass. Ember was shakily trying to get back on her feet. Feathers were all over the place, some dangling from Ember's arms. Her guitar was broken in two. A tree that was once frozen was uprooted from the ground.

"Danny!" Sam exclaimed as she ran over to the unconscious merman lying in the grass. She looked up at the siren. "What did you do to him?" she asked.

"How am I supposed to know? One moment we were fighting, the next moment the fish stick started wailing like a banshee. Knocked the wind and my feathers out of me," Ember explained.

"Are you saying that Danny did this?" Sam asked for clarity.

"It's a little early for a blizzard, don't you think?" Ember gestured to the frozen uprooted tree.

"He did that too?"

"No, Jack Frost came early and blew this tree right out of its roots. Of course the fish stick did this!" Ember exclaimed.

"What did you do to him?" Sam demanded.

"I didn't knock him out if that's what you're implying," said Ember. "He's the one who froze this tree. He's the one who uprooted it from the ground. He's the one who blew practically all my feathers off my arms and busted my precious guitar. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?"

"If you didn't knock him out then who did?" Sam asked.

"No one. He passed out after he unleashed that awful wail," Ember explained. She picked up pieces of her guitar and a few feathers. "Now if you excuse me I've got to go back to my hotel and book a flight back to Greece. Your fish stick boyfriend owes me a new guitar too!" She then walked away in a huff.

_'I've heard of getting someone's feathers ruffled but this is ridiculous.'_

"Where do you think it came from?"

"Let's try over here."

The voices of two security guards were heard close by. Sam panicked and looked around for a hiding place for Danny. Since it was a golf course, hiding places were scarce. Sam saw the pond where Danny transformed and decided it would have to do. _'I just hope he doesn't float.'_ Sam dragged Danny towards the pond as best as she could. He was a lot heavier than he looked. Sam blamed his tail. As she got closer, she decided to roll him into the water instead. It would be much easier. Sam pushed him into the pond and he landed in the water with a loud splash.

"Hey!"

"Who's there?"

Sam ran through the hedges and was back on the sidewalk. She listened closely as the security guards got closer to the battle site.

"Holy moley! What the hell happened here?"

"How the hell did that tree get covered in ice?"

"And where did all these feathers come from? They don't look like they're from any bird I've ever seen."

"Should we report this to the boss, AJ?"

"And tell him what, Chester? Vandals somehow froze a tree and knocked it over? How are we gonna explain that weird sound everyone heard?"

"Do I look like an expert on sound? Probably came from the same bird that left these feathers behind."

"And the tree?"

"Um… I don't know. It's not cold enough for a blizzard…"

The voices became softer and softer as the guards walked away. Sam jumped through the hedges again. After checking to see that the coast was clear, Sam pulled out her cell phone and dialed the first person that could get Danny out of this mess.

"Hello?"

"Tucker! Thank God you answered!" Sam exclaimed.

"Uh… is it important? I'm kind of busy," Tucker said nervously.

"Busy? With what?"

"I'm on a date."

Sam paused for a moment before she put the pieces together. "Is Valerie with you?" she asked snidely.

"How did you know it was Valerie?" Tucker asked in alarm.

"You just told me," Sam answered matter-of-factly. Sam heard sputtering on the other end of the line and knew that she was right on the mark. "Listen, you guys need to get to the country club right away. I don't have much time."

"I thought Danny was with you to keep you from dying of boredom," said Tucker.

"He was until a siren crashed the party," Sam said irritably.

"A SIREN?!"

"Bottom line: she and Danny got into a fight and Danny is out cold right now. Security is investigating the noise they heard and if you and Val don't get here soon, Danny is going to wind up on the eleven o' clock news!" Sam yelled.

"I saw the address on Danny's invitation. Give us about twenty minutes tops," said Tucker.

"Hurry!" Sam exclaimed. "We're on the golf course, near the seventh hole." She ended the call. She looked into the pond and saw Danny still knocked out at the bottom. Knowing that he'd have to come out of the water sooner or later, Sam groaned, "I do not want to do this."

She leapt into the water; its frigid temperature due to the fall weather sucked the air out of her lungs. She swam to the bottom of the pond and wrapped her arm around Danny's torso. She gathered enough strength to kick off from the bottom towards the surface of the pond. The second Sam broke the surface she gulped down as much oxygen as she could. It wasn't easy but she managed to drag Danny out of the water. Sam's teeth chattered as she waited for Tucker and Valerie to come to the rescue.

"Sam!"

Sam turned and saw Tucker running as fast as he could in their direction.

"How did you guys get here so fast?" asked the soggy Goth.

"I used a speed spell to make the car go faster without affecting the speedometer," Tucker explained.

"Where's Valerie?" asked Sam.

"Waiting in the parking lot."

"That won't work. There are security cameras near where you came in," said Sam. "Tell her to drive around the corner outside the front gate where the hedges are."

Tucker pulled out his cell phone and dialed Valerie's number. "Hey Val. It's me… Yeah, I found them."

"…"

"Sam says security is tight."

"…"

"Drive out the front gate and turn right, around the corner. Look for some hedges."

They waited for a few minutes when they saw headlights through the hedges. When they flickered, they knew it was Valerie. The two friends picked up their fishy friend and managed to squeeze him through the bushes. Valerie jumped out of the car to open the trunk door. Her friends put Danny in the trunk and Sam sat with him.

Sam placed Danny's head in her lap as Valerie and Tucker got back into the car to drive to Tick Tock Clock Shop.

"Hang in there," Sam whispered to her unconscious boyfriend who moaned in response. "Whatever you did to that siren must have wiped you out. Hopefully Mr. Tock will know what to do."

By the time the quartet got back to the clock shop, Dick Tock was waiting for them in the back. He held the door open as the three friends carried Danny inside and up the stairs.

"Is he going to be alright?" Sam asked worriedly as Clockwork started treating Danny's injuries in his bedroom.

"He'll be fine," Clockwork assured her as he used a healing spell on the Phantom Merman. "The Wail is what the Phantom is notoriously known for. The previous Phantom learned it when he was twenty-four. He often abused it."

"How did the previous Phantom abuse this Wail thing? That sounds like a killer on the vocal cords," said Sam.

"You know about Amelia Earhart, right?" asked Clockwork.

"Yeah. Who doesn't?"

"Well now you know how she disappeared."

Sam blinked at that. "Why did Danny pass out after using this Wail thing?" she asked.

"The Wail is the Phantom's most powerful ability. Daniel has had it since he was fourteen, rather earlier than the previous Phantoms," Clockwork explained. "Since the Wail is the Phantom's most powerful ability, it uses a lot of energy. Whenever Daniel uses it, he passes out. He should be able to use it properly by his twenty-fourth year."

"Why did he get it so early?" asked Sam.

"Even I don't know how he got it early. I have theories, mostly related to him reaching puberty but nothing else," said Clockwork.

A groan interrupted the conversation. Both turned their heads and saw Danny tilting his head back and forth as he tried to regain consciousness.

"With the state he's in now his instincts are probably in full swing," said Clockwork.

"What do mean? I thought you healed him," said Sam.

"I healed his injuries, not restored his energy. A good night sleep should do the trick. He'll be back to normal by morning," Clockwork assured her.

"Are you sure?"

Clockwork chuckled. "I know everything. I know he'll be all right." He then left the room.

Sam nodded and followed him out the room…well that's what she intended to do. A slimy hand grabbed her hand and pulled her to the bed. Danny pulled Sam close to him and held her as tightly as a child held a teddy bear when he was scared.

"What the?! Hey!" Sam yelled in surprised. She struggled to free herself from his iron grip but to no avail. She felt his black tail snake around her legs, binding them. "Not this again. This would be so much more enjoyable if you were conscious!"

Danny simply responded by nuzzling his face into her hair. "I can't let her hurt you," he mumbled. Sam assumed that he was dreaming about his fight with Ember.

"The fight is over, Danny. You can let me go," Sam told Danny. She really wanted to get out of her wet dress.

His grip on her tightened. "I'll never let you go," he whispered into her ear.

Sam rolled her eyes. "I mean you can let go of me now. We're safe and sound in the apartment over the clock shop."

Danny seemed to have calmed down but he didn't loosen his grip on Sam.

Tucker walked into the room to check on Danny when he saw the awkward position Sam was in.

"Sorry. Am I interrupting something?" asked Tucker.

"Tuck! You've got to help me!" Sam screamed in a harsh whisper.

Tucker held up his hands. "No way. When merfolk are like that it's best not to disturb them."

Sam's eyes widened. "What?! No! I'm not ready for that step in our relationship!" she hissed. "My parents will kill me if they found out!"

Tucker snorted. "I mean he's in defensive mode. His brain still thinks he's fighting that siren. If I try to get you away from him, he'll turn me into calamari," he explained. "His instincts are basically telling him to protect whatever's important to him even though his body is out of gas."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" asked Sam.

Tucker shrugged. "Probably let him sleep it off. I don't know about you but until he snaps out of it you're stuck there."

"So I have to spend the night in his arms while wearing a wet dress?" Sam asked.

Tucker smirked. "Don't human girls kill to be in the position you're in?"

"Not me!"

Tucker smirked as he closed the door and left the two alone. "Nighty-night!" he sang.

'_Tucker! You traitor!'_

Great. Not only was Tucker leaving her alone with a semi-conscious merman for the night but she had to spend it with a semi-conscious merman in a damp dress. It wasn't that Sam didn't want to leave Danny's arms. Far from it. She just didn't like being taken by surprise by these kinds of things nor did she like sleeping in wet clothes. If he could just let her go for, like, a half-hour or so to get fresh clothes she'd gladly come back and keep him company until he made a complete recovery.

Sam started shivering from the cold air in the room. She _really_ needed to get in some dry clothes. Danny, in his semiconscious state, somehow sensed her discomfort and used a dry spell on her followed by a warmth spell. Sam saw that the white glow surrounding Danny's body changed to a gentle green as warmth covered her body like a warm blanket. Sam smiled in content as she allowed herself to fall asleep. She only hoped that Danny wouldn't wake up begging for her forgiveness for acting the way he did.

* * *

**This semester is gonna be tricky for me. Y'all gonna have to be patient. **

**Congratulations, SkylarRhea! You are my 200th reviewer! *cue mariachi band* I give you a virtual pie! I'm so happy that I have so many reviews! *sniff* You have no idea how special that makes me feel! *Cries tears of joy*  
**


	21. Exploring His World

**Well, so far the new semester is going well. To celebrate, I'm going to give y'all a new chapter!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 21**

**Exploring His World**

Danny floated at the altar of the Church of Poseidon with Tucker, his best man, and the clergyman. All of their families and friends watched as the bride gracefully glided down the aisle. This was the greatest day of Danny's young life and he was going to spend the rest of it with his mate. His bride appeared next to him at the altar, her face covered by a veil, her purple tail sparkling in the sunlight that managed to make it through the stain glass windows.

The two exchanged their vows and the clergyman allowed Danny to kiss his new bride. Danny lifted the veil to kiss her…

~0~0~0~

Danny opened his eyes and saw that he was in his bedroom in Clockwork's apartment. He was no longer at the church. The whole thing was a dream.

"Damn," he pouted. It was such a lovely dream. If only it were real.

He fidgeted in his bed. Something didn't feel right. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and saw that something was indeed not right. His hand was webbed and some scales were visible. He noticed that he slept the entire night in his merman form. Something else fidgeted in his bed. He was not alone. He turned his head and saw that Sam was sleeping right next to him.

Danny stopped himself from screaming in alarm. _'What the HELL did I do after I passed out?'_ Nervous, he lifted the covers and saw that Sam still had her clothes on. He released a sigh of relief. _'Thank Poseidon!'_

He changed into his human form and carefully got out of bed to avoid waking up Sam. Seeing that he was still in his evening attire, Danny grabbed some fresh clothes and went to the bathroom to take a shower. He was so wrapped in his thoughts he forgot that he was still in his human disguise.

_SLIP! CRASH! BANG!_

_'Two months on the surface and I'm still forgetting that I have to take baths instead of showers.'_

~0~0~0~

Sam woke up when she heard a crash coming from the bathroom. She noticed that Danny was gone. She jumped out of bed to investigate the noise. She knocked on the bathroom door.

"Don't come in!" Danny yelled from inside.

"Danny, it's me. Are you okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm…I'm fine," Danny lied.

Valerie, who was sleeping on the couch, woke up and walked up to Sam.

"What's going on?" Valerie yawned.

Sam was about to ask how her friend didn't hear the noise but remembered that Valerie could sleep through Armageddon.

"I heard a crash coming from the bathroom," said Sam.

Tucker came out of Clockwork's bedroom (he slept on the floor) rubbing his eyes. "What's all that racket?" he yawned.

"Sam heard a crash from the bathroom," Valerie answered.

Tucker smirked at Sam. "Decided to wash up after your little slumber party?" he asked slyly.

Sam turned bright red. She grabbed Tucker's beret and stuffed it in his mouth. "Nothing happened last night, you pervert!" she growled.

Valerie folded her arms. "Seriously, Tucker. I know Sam like the back of my hand. If there's one thing she's not it's reckless," she defended.

"Look, can you please unlock the door and see if he's alright?" Sam requested.

Tucker blinked. "Only if I go in first. Gotta make sure he's…decent, you know?" A small spark shot out of his index finger and unlocked the door with a click. Tucker entered the bathroom and checked on Danny. "It's cool! His tail is out so it's alright to come in," he called out.

"Tucker!" Danny yelled.

Valerie and Sam already entered and did their best not to laugh at Danny's situation. Like so many times before, Danny was lying on his chest with his tailfin hovering in front of his face.

"We seriously need to talk to Clockwork about installing a bathtub in this bathroom," Danny said to Tucker. Sam and Valerie couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.

"It's even funnier the second time," Valerie laughed. "The first time I was too shocked to enjoy it!"

Danny just scowled at the girls. "Just get me out of here!" he exclaimed.

~0~0~0~

Although Fall Break was technically over, the four friends decided to cut class today since they all had it rough last night.

During breakfast, Daniel pulled Tucker aside for a moment. Neither girl knew what they were planning.

"Sam, do you have your pearl with you?" Daniel asked.

Sam pulled it out of her pocket. Ever since she learned about Daniel's identity she'd been carrying it around with her to see what other surprises the gem had in store for her. So far nothing.

Daniel took the gem from her and went downstairs to the back room where Clockwork repaired his customers' clocks and watches.

"What's Danny doing with the weird pearl?" asked Valerie.

"He's just giving it a little something extra," Tucker replied with a wink.

"He's not going to put a weird spell on it, is he?" Sam asked nervously.

"Maybe," Tucker said with feigned innocence. "He shouldn't take too long. He's pretty quick with his hands."

As soon as the kitchen was cleaned up, Daniel came back upstairs. He gave Sam the pearl back but it was attached to a small chain necklace.

"You made a pendant," said Sam. She held her new necklace up to her eyes. The pearl was attached to the small chain and Daniel added bat wings with small black stones to make it appeal to Sam's Gothic side. "It's beautiful."

"I hope you like it. I added little bat wings to make it more your style," Daniel said modestly. He took the pendant and put it around Sam's neck.

"Ooooo… Sam, you look good with that necklace," Valerie complimented.

"You think so?" asked Sam.

"One hundred percent." Valerie then looked at her watch. "Crud! I've got to go! I've got to get to the Nasty Burger for my shift."

When Valerie left the shop, Tucker then cleared his throat. "So, guys, shall we go to the beach?" he asked.

Sam looked at Tucker quizzically.

"Did you eat my tofu bacon or something?" asked Sam. "You're basically asking me if you can expose your true selves to us in broad daylight. Besides I can't breathe."

Daniel and Tucker exchanged knowing glances. "We've got that covered," they said simultaneously.

~0~0~0~

The trio went to the cave where Danny and Sam often hung out. Tucker jumped into the water, changing into his true form.

"Want me to go ahead?" he asked Daniel.

He nodded. "Go on ahead and make sure the coast is clear," he told his best friend. Tucker gave Daniel a salute and swam off.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Sam asked Daniel as he stepped into the water, changing into his true form.

"Of course I'm sure," Danny replied confidently. "Don't you trust me?"

"Duh. I trust you with my life but when you suggest something like this, I can't help but question your motives," Sam answered.

Danny chuckled. "Don't worry. I promise nothing will happen to you. Just stay close to me and everything will be fine," he assured her. He held out his webbed hand for her. Sam gulped and put her hand into his. Sam landed in the water (she was in her swimsuit) and Danny held on to her.

"I'm still questioning your motives," Sam told him.

Danny just smiled. "Want me to hold you or do you want to ride on my back?" he asked.

"Uh…I'll ride on your back," she stuttered. He allowed her to climb onto his back. She was careful to place herself on one side of his back to avoid flattening his dorsal fin. "You sure this is a good idea?"

"That's the same question I asked you when you wanted me to free the killer whale that one weekend we went to Sea World in San Diego," said Danny as he slowly glided out of the cave.

"Shamu deserves to be free with his fellow orcas," Sam defended.

Danny chuckled as he got farther out to sea. "You ready?" he asked.

Sam's grip on her fishy boyfriend tightened. "No but you're going to do it anyway, right?" she asked nervously.

Danny gave her a huge goofy grin. "Yep. Here we go!"

Danny dove into the depths of the ocean. Sam held her breath in for as long as she could. She thought she was going to suffocate when she realized…she could breathe! She looked down and saw that her pearl was faintly glowing. _'This must be helping me breathe. This pearl is more mysterious than I thought.'_

"How am I able to breathe under water?" asked Sam.

"I put a breathing spell on your pearl. I've been wanting to take you under for some time," Danny explained. "I didn't know the spell so that's why I pulled Tucker aside this morning. He knew the spell."

Sam let go of Danny and tried swimming next to him. When he saw that she was having a hard time keeping up with him, Danny grabbed Sam's hand and swam next to her. As they got deeper and deeper, Sam saw merfolk swimming in and out of several caverns in the distance. Luckily she and Danny were far enough to not be noticed.

"Those are just the neighbors," Danny simply explained.

"Do they get along with you and your family?" Sam asked.

"No and it's not just because of me," Danny answered. "My parents are rather…eccentric. They're inventors."

"Do they invent anything in particular?"

"Anything that will improve our lives. They don't care if they have to use human items or some of our own technology."

That intrigued Sam. "What kind of technology does your kind have?" she asked curiously.

"Well, we have shell phones," said Danny. "They're our version of cell phones except they're nothing like those iPhones you humans have. They originally started as a joke."

"So they're basically just like regular cell phones?" Sam clarified.

"Pretty much."

The two then continued swimming onward. Sam saw several building structures made out of coral and assumed that they were houses. She was amazed that the USS Casper was the home of one of Tucker's friends. Danny refused to talk about him. ("Let's just say that he hates me because I tried to get back at a bully.")

"Come on. I want to show you some of the stuff Tucker I found!" Danny exclaimed excitedly. The two swam to Danny's old grotto where it was filled with several items Sam would usually find on the surface.

"Hey Tuck! It's us!" Danny called out. The octopus boy came out of the shadows.

"Hey guys," Tucker greeted. "Check it out! I found a trophy!" An old trophy was held in one of his tentacles. It looked like a person made out of gold.

Sam recognized the trophy. "How did an Oscar get to the bottom of the ocean?" she asked aloud. She tried scraping away some of the moss and dirt off the plague but she only managed to scrape enough away to read the words 'Best Supporting Actress' on it.

"I wonder whose this is?" asked Danny.

"Who knows?" said Sam. She then looked at her surroundings. "Whoa! Did you guys collect this much stuff all by yourselves?"

"Yep," said Danny.

"When we were kids we didn't know what half the stuff was when we found it," said Tucker. "Nowadays, we have a pretty good idea what most of it is."

"Wow, this is exactly like 'the Little Mermaid'," Sam murmured.

"We know," the two boys said in embarrassment.

"If you have a better idea on where to hide all this I'd like to hear it," Danny said, wiggling his fin-ears to make his point.

~0~0~0~

Little did any of the three friends know, one of Vlad's droids was spying on them. Vlad, knowing that Sam was technically an intruder to mermaid society, decided to expose Danny's little secret to the only two merfolk who could put a stop to their little love affair.

The droid then swam off to find someone who would put a stop to Sam's relationship with Danny. If Vlad wanted Danny by his side, he would take away the one thing that mattered to the boy.

* * *

**There is only one on Earth that can pull two people apart...but I'll let you take a wild guess.**

**I don't know when the next update will be. I really appreciate your patience.  
**

**Let me know if you've made any fanart for any (and I mean any) of my stories! Thank you jeanette9a! Great job on your artwork for this!  
**


	22. The Parents

**The only force on Earth that could pull two lovers apart: PARENTS! How many times have I read books and watched movies and TV where parents would disapprove of someone and keep them away from each other.  
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**Here's the next chapter! I'll see you at the bottom.  
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**Enjoy!  
**

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**Chapter 22**

**The Parents**

Jack Fenton was as enthusiastic as his son when it came to unfamiliar things. He was the reason Danny became interested in the surface world in the first place, much to Maddie's dismay. Jazz was more into following the rules. As interesting as the human world sounded, Jazz would rather be safe and stay away from humans like her mother said. Jack supported Maddie's rules about their children staying away from the surface but that didn't mean that he couldn't tell them stories.

Jack was currently getting the barnacles off of the side of his coral house (Maddie's orders) when something caught his eye. A metallic fish-like creature was swimming about, observing its surroundings. Excited, Jack dropped the scrapper he was using and swam inside to find his wife.

"Maddie! Come quick! We've got a weird one!" he yelled excitedly.

Maddie came out of the basement where she was working on another kooky invention to improve their lives. "What is it, Jack?" she asked.

"It's a metallic fish! And I don't mean metallic in color," said Jack. "This one looks like it's literally made of metal."

Knowing that this thing was most likely manmade, Maddie swam back to the basement to gather some weapons. She came back with a harpoon and tossed Jack a net. "Let's get that thing and dismantle it!" she said enthusiastically.

The two gave chase to the metallic creature but neither of them could catch it. Maddie saw that the metallic creature was about to seek refuge in a cave when she decided to stop it on her own.

"_Navitas Flante!_" she yelled. A blast of energy was released from her hand and hit the mechanical creature. As the dust cleared, Maddie and Jack heard Danny and Tucker talking inside the cave.

"Well that explains why I can't find a Nintendo 64 in stores anymore," Tucker's voice said.

"That stinks," Danny's voice moaned. "I really wanted to play that 'Mario Party' you told me about."

"You can still get a Nintendo 64 from Amazon. They're probably sold cheap," an unfamiliar voice answered. Jack and Maddie stopped what they were doing. Whoever was in that cave with Tucker and Danny was not from these parts.

"You mean the Amazon River?" asked Danny. "No one goes there unless they have a death wish."

"Yeah," Tucker agreed. "If you go there, you're practically committing suicide!"

"What's so bad about – no! I mean the website, not the river!" said the third voice. It sounded like the boys were talking to a mermaid. Neither of them knew one besides Jazz as far as Jack and Maddie knew.

"Ooooh…" the boys said, now understanding what the female voice meant.

"What's so bad about the Amazon River anyway?" asked the female voice.

"It's full of cannibals," said Danny.

"Cannibals?"

"You know, something that eats one of its own?" said Tucker.

"I know what a cannibal is! What I meant was what do you mean that the Amazon is full of cannibals?" said the female.

"The merfolk there have the tail fins and teeth of the Amazon piranha," Danny explained. "They tend to eat other merfolk who are new to their territory, so the rumors say."

"And you believe those rumors?"

"Yes and we don't want to go there to confirm those rumors either," said Tucker.

Jack and Maddie frowned. How could a mermaid not know about the dangers of the Amazon River? True, not many mermaids went to freshwater areas because humans tend to linger there more, but for a mermaid to not know about where she could and could not swim baffled the couple.

The two swam into the cave to see whom the boys were talking to. What they saw shocked and frightened them beyond belief. A human girl was having a pleasant conversation with their son and his best friend. The girl looked to be about Danny's age. Her ebony hair went well with her violet eyes. She wore a black one-piece swimsuit and wore a pendant around her neck that seemed to give off a faint glow, which Maddie made note of.

"Daniel James Fenton!" Maddie yelled, startling the three young adults. "Get away from that human!"

Jack charged at the girl with his net over his head. "Eat hot Fenton Net, human scum!" he roared.

Danny grabbed the girl and swam higher so Jack swam underneath them. As a result, Jack crashed into a bunch of old pots. Danny pushed the girl behind him to keep her safe.

Tucker smiled cheekily at the parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, long time no see! How are you doing?" he asked as innocently as possible.

Maddie ignored him and stared up at her son. "Daniel Fenton, get your scaly tail down here this instant!" she ordered.

Danny readily frowned at his mother. "Quit treating me like a guppy, Mom! I can make my own decisions."

Maddie gawked at her son's response before becoming angry again. "Young man, until you find a place of your own, you are to live by my rules. Now get down here before I have to pull you down here," she ordered.

Danny glared at his mother before turning his attention to Sam. He then turned to Tucker. "Tuck?" he asked.

Tucker swam up to Danny's level. "Say no more, dude. I'll keep an eye on her," he assured his best friend.

Sam looked at Danny worriedly. "Danny…" she started.

Danny gave her a reassuring smile and kissed her forehead. "It will be alright, I promise," he assured her.

Tucker grabbed Sam's wrist and swam out of the grotto through another exit. Danny then lowered himself to the grotto floor and glared at his mother.

"Care to explain why you were with a human girl down here?" Maddie demanded.

"Why? So you can put a curse on her that will turn her into a sea snail or something?" Danny replied defiantly.

"Danny, don't talk to your mother like that," Jack said warningly through a flowerpot stuck on his head.

"You know that bringing a human down here is forbidden," Maddie told Danny.

"What if that human is sworn to secrecy?" asked Danny. "Sam knows about me and Tucker and she swears that she won't tell anybody."

"That was the girl called Sam?" asked Jack as he tried to get the flowerpot off his head.

"Yes, that was her," Danny confirmed. "She's my girlfriend."

Both parents gasped.

"You're dating a human?" Maddie asked in astonishment.

"Isn't that taboo?" asked Jack.

"No, Jack. It's just frowned upon," said Maddie.

"Oh."

Maddie returned her attention to her son. "Danny, I know you like this Sam human but you cannot be with her."

Danny's glowing green eyes flashed brighter in anger. "Why not? For the first time in my life a girl actually likes me for me. She doesn't care that I'm the Phantom or a merman for that matter. She makes me happy no matter what she does."

"Until she turns around and stabs you in the back," said Maddie. "It happened to me. It happened to so many others before me. What makes this girl any different?"

"Danny, don't flash your eyes at your mother," Jack scolded (he was looking through a hole in the flowerpot).

"She cares about me, Mom. She's cared about me since we were kids," said Danny. "Only you guys, Jazz, and Tucker have ever cared about me like that."

That caught Maddie off-guard. "'Since we were kids'? How long have you known Sam?" she asked, her temper rising to a breaking point.

When Danny didn't answer, Jack answered for him. "Maddie? Remember when Danny was almost captured by a human over ten years ago?" he asked.

"You went to the surface to meet a human when you were a child?!" Maddie yelled. "That was the reason why you went to the surface in the first place back then?"

"If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be here!" Danny yelled back. That silenced Maddie. The human girl was the reason Danny got away from Vlad's clutches eleven years ago? Why would she do something like that? Normally humans would tell someone if they met a mermaid.

"Mom, ever since I went to the surface I've made more friends than I ever did here," said Danny.

Maddie stared at her angry son. Tucker was pretty much the only friend her son had since childhood. Ever since Danny went to college on the surface he'd call her, talking about how many friends he'd made. Was it wrong to forbid Danny from having a relationship with a human girl? Maddie shook her head. No, it's not wrong. She was sparing him the pain of betrayal she felt when she was his age.

"Danny, this girl is going to hurt you if you stay with her," Maddie reasoned. "I don't care if you knew each other when you were children. People change. The girl who rescued you is most likely a different person now."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Danny yelled. "The fact that we met only intensified her feelings towards everything she believes in. She hasn't told a soul about us since we met."

"Danny, I forbid you from seeing that girl," Maddie said firmly.

Danny scowled at his mother. "It's too late, Mom. I…I love her. Nothing you do will ever change that," he growled. He then swam out of the grotto but not without pulling the flowerpot off his father's head with relative ease.

Maddie sighed. "Do you think I'm being overprotective, Jack?" she asked her husband.

Jack rubbed his now free head. "Maddie, you're just keeping an eye out for him. Whatever Vladdie did to you is in the past, although I have no idea what Vlad could have done for you to hold a grudge against him."

Maddie rolled her eyes. Jack was still ignorant about everything Vlad did to Maddie and Danny. Maddie didn't know what would convince her husband that Vlad was bad news.

"Still, I wish Danny would just date a mermaid instead of a human. What if she hurts him?" Maddie asked.

"Danny has always been different from the other merkids," said Jack.

"Exactly," said Maddie. "If he was made fun of because of what breed he is, then who's to say he'll be made fun of if he dates a human?"

Ever since Danny was a guppy, he'd been picked on nonstop because he was _Phantasma __Nereiorum Formant_. He met Tucker in preschool when they were both tricked into going into a trench to retrieve a toy. They had to work together to get out of there alive (by 'working together' it meant crying loud enough until help came). Since then the two had been inseparable.

Maddie still remembered Jazz bringing home a beaten up Danny from the park. No matter how badly he got beaten up, Danny never held a grudge big enough to get revenge. He would just tell himself that he'd win the fight next time no matter how many times he lost.

~0~0~0~

_"Mom! Mom! Come quick!" eight-year-old Jazz Fenton yelled as she brought her six-year-old brother inside the house. "Danny got into another fight on the playground again!"_

_ Maddie swam up from the basement to see her battered son sitting on the couch, wiping his bloody nose. His face was bruised and there were hints of redness in his glowing green eyes, evidence that he'd been crying._

_ "Danny, seriously? Another fight?" Maddie sighed._

_ Danny glared at his mother. "Johnny started it. He wouldn't let me play with him, Jazz, and Kitty," he grumbled as he wiped his busted lip._

_ Maddie shook her head and started casting a healing spell on her son's bruises. "Why didn't you go play with Tucker?" she asked. She tilted her son's head up and told him to plug his bleeding nose._

_ "Tucker wasn't at the park today," Danny answered, his voice sounded differently with his nose plugged. "No one else would play with me."_

_ Maddie looked at her daughter. "Jazz? Why didn't you let Danny play with you and your friends?" she asked._

_ "Johnny didn't want him to play with us," said Jazz. _

_ "He called me Freaky Phantom," Danny grumbled. "I don't know why everyone calls me that."_

_ "Just because Johnny called you a mean name doesn't mean that you have to start a fight with him," Maddie reasoned._

_ "That's what I told him!" Jazz explained._

_ Danny just looked away. "It doesn't matter. I'll beat him next time," he mumbled. He suddenly spat something out of his mouth and smiled. "Mommy! Look! I lost a tooth!"_

~0~0~0~

Danny swam off in a huff, holding back the tears in his eyes. Who did his mother think she was to forbid him from seeing Sam? What Danny said to Maddie was true; he wasn't going to deny it any longer. He was in love with Sam. She was the only one who liked him for who and what he was. No one had ever accepted him like that except for his family and Tucker.

There was a problem though. Danny loved Sam; he wasn't going to deny it anymore. But the problem was that she was human and he wasn't. He saw Sam as his ideal mate but would she accept a life under the sea with him? If she stayed with him, it would be proof that the Phantom could have a mate like everyone else. However, Danny knew that humans usually took their relationships slowly before committing themselves to each other. Some humans would date for years before exchanging vows. How long should Danny wait before popping the question to Sam?

* * *

**That's the million dollar question!**

**Ironic, huh? Normally it's Sam's parents who disapproves of Danny. Hope that's okay!**

**Thank you, CartoonFreakshow and jeanette9a! Your fanart is very encouraging! You're both awesome artists!  
**

**BTW: "_Navitas Flante_" is Latin for "energy blast". Thank you, Google Translate!  
**


	23. Bad Day

**To celebrate the three-day weekend, I shall update this story for you all.  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 23**

**Bad Day**

Meanwhile, Tucker hid Sam in the USS Casper, much to Sidney Poindexter's dismay. For one thing, Tucker brought a human into his home. Another thing was that Poindexter's uncle Nicolai Technus was napping in the brig and would be seriously pissed off if he woke up to find a human in his house. And the last thing was, Tucker not only brought a human into Poindexter's house but it was a human _girl_! Like many nerds on land, Poindexter had little to no experience when it came to women.

"If my uncle Nicolai sees the human girl here, he's going to be more pissed off than the time a ship sank on top of his home in 1812!" Poindexter exclaimed (merfolk tend to have a longer lifespan than humans). "He hasn't been to the Atlantic since!"

"Would you calm down for two seconds?" Tucker asked exasperatedly. "Trust me. Sam will stay here until Danny comes to get her."

"She's friends with the Phantom?" asked Poindexter. "I still don't understand how you are friends with him."

Tucker rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Sam. She was sitting on an old barrel looking out the window. A knot formed in her throat on the way here. Danny's parents were no different than her parents. It looked like they didn't like her because she was human. It was almost how Sam's parents didn't like Danny that much because they thought he was in a class lower than them.

It wasn't fair. Danny's mother used to go to the surface once, if Sam recalled correctly from Vlad's story. What did Vlad do that made Danny's parents hate her so much? Sam didn't hear the entire story so she had no idea what exactly happened to Maddie and Vlad.

Not wanting to wait anymore, Sam got up and swam to the door.

"And just where do you think you're going?" asked Tucker who blocked her exit.

"I'm going to find Danny's parents and find out what they have against humans," Sam answered.

"Let her go, Tucker," said Poindexter. "The sooner she leaves, the better. I feel like I'm harboring a fugitive just looking at her."

Sam glared daggers at the Geek Trout. "Watch it, Bucky McBeaver, before I knock those two front teeth of yours right out of your mouth," she threatened. Poindexter squeaked in fear and hid behind a crate.

"Sam, Danny's parents not only invent stuff for us to use, but they also make sure humans _do not_ find our little…uh…village…I guess we can call it that…" Tucker trailed off.

"Is that why they tried catching me with a butterfly net when I saw them?" Sam asked, crossing her arms.

"Pretty much, yeah," Tucker answered.

Sam pushed Tucker aside. "Well, I'm going to find them and tell them that not all humans are like Vlad Masters," she declared. She swam out of the ship.

Sidney came out of his hiding place as soon as she was gone. "Whew! Glad she's gone," he stated.

"We've gotta get her back here," said Tucker. "Who knows if any of Vlad's robot things are still lurking about."

"I'm sorry. 'We'?"

"Yes, 'we'! You're pretty much in this mess now too," Tucker said as he grabbed Sidney's dorsal fin and dragged him along to find Sam.

~0~0~0~

Sam swam off to find Danny's parents and give them a piece of her mind. People, no matter what race they were, should never judge a book by its cover. She wouldn't be surprised if they treated their son differently because he was the Phantom.

Sam bumped into a Cecaelia who had bright red tentacles with matching red hair styled like horns and red bra.

The Cecaelia stared hungrily at Sam. "My! What's a lost little human like you doing here in these parts?" she asked sweetly.

"I'm just looking for someone," Sam said.

"Who are you looking for?" the Cecaelia asked.

"My boyfriend's parents," Sam answered. "I want to give them a piece of my mind."

The octopus woman was intrigued. "Do tell. For a human who wants to have a talk with two merfolk all by herself is very bold," she said as she put her arm around Sam's shoulder.

Sam was immediately against this kind of direct contact. For one, she only liked it when her grandmother, Valerie, Tucker and Danny touched her so casually. Also, there was something about this Cecaelia that Sam didn't like. Every second she spent with her made Sam more and more tired.

"My boyfriend brought me down here so I could see what his world was like," Sam explained. "Then all of a sudden, his parents show up out of nowhere and basically tell me to get lost."

"They told you that?" asked the Cecaelia.

"No, but I could tell just by looking at their faces that they did not want me around. They only hate me because I'm human and I'm dating their only son," Sam grumbled.

The octopus woman's grip tightened. "Well, you'll never accomplish anything if you're all wound up like this," she said. "How about you relax?"

Her tentacles grabbed Sam's limbs, keeping her from moving.

"Hey! What are you doing?" asked the Goth.

"You're just a waterfall of misery," the Cecaelia said. "All of that frustration must make you so miserable."

Sam didn't understand. This thing was like Tucker yet she was draining every drop of energy from her. Tucker didn't know how to do that as far as Sam knew. She had to escape but the longer the Cecaelia held Sam, the weaker she got.

"I'm going to drain every drop of your energy to stay young and beautiful," the octopus woman said. "And since you're young and very beautiful, you're the perfect target."

A blast of energy hit the red Cecaelia in the back. She turned and saw the Phantom swimming towards them. His green eyes were glowing brightly in anger.

"Get away from her, Spectra," he growled.

The Cecaelia called Spectra sneered at Danny as her grip on Sam began to loosen. "You want her for yourself, is that it?" she asked.

"None of your business," Danny growled. He fired another energy blast at Spectra, causing her to let go of Sam. Danny swam over to her and caught her before she landed in the sand.

"Sam? Are you okay?" he asked.

"Danny…?" Sam whispered before blacking out. That woman really drained a lot out of her.

A red tentacle grabbed Danny and pulled him away from Sam. "Hey! Let me go!" he yelled.

"You took my meal away!" Spectra yelled back. "I'm just going to have to take something of yours!"

Two more blasts of energy hit Spectra before she could start feeding off of Danny. She turned and saw Tucker and Poindexter floating a few feet above her head.

"Leave him alone you bully!" Poindexter ordered.

"Poindexter?" Danny said in astonishment. "I thought you hated my guts."

"Just because you bullied Ricky Marsh in high school doesn't mean I'm going to let this sea witch bully _you_," Poindexter defended.

"I showed him the error of his ways," Tucker explained before Danny could ask.

"Normally, I'd be happy about this but… CAN YOU GET ME AWAY FROM THIS SEA WITCH?!" Danny yelled.

Poindexter folded his arms. "With that attitude…" he started only to be interrupted by Tucker who slapped him upside the head. "Never mind. We're here to help."

The two charged at Spectra. Sidney swam in circles around Spectra to distract her while Tucker carefully dragged Sam as far away from the fight as possible. Sidney cast spell after spell on Spectra to make her let go of Danny. He managed to break free from Spectra's grip and joined Poindexter in the fight.

"Dude! We need to get Sam out of here!" Tucker called out to Danny.

Danny decided to end the fight early and fired an ice beam at Spectra, freezing her in place. "That should hold her for a few hours," he said to himself.

Sidney and Danny swam over to Tucker who put Sam in Danny's arms.

"She's alright, just knocked out," said Tucker.

Danny looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms. "Thank Poseidon. I need to get her back to the surface to get treated," he said. He then turned to Poindexter. "So…we're cool?"

Sidney blinked. "I'm fine, thanks?" he said uncertainly. He had never heard 'cool' used like that before.

Danny chuckled. "I mean, are we on good terms?" he asked.

"Oh! Never heard that phrase before. Yeah, I guess we can bury the hatchet," said Sidney. He held out his hand for a handshake but saw that Danny's hands were obviously full. So the two slapped tailfins (merfolk's version of a high-five).

~0~0~0~

Danny took Sam back to the cave on the surface. It was late in the afternoon, dusk. Danny placed Sam's unconscious body in the sand of the cave. The pearl around her neck stopped glowing, it's protection no longer needed for the time being.

Danny used a drying spell on Sam. This day turned out worse than he thought. First his parents come to try and capture her like an animal and then Spectra comes and feeds off her emotions.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled to her. "This is not how I wanted to spend my day with you. Everything has gone wrong."

Danny was so ashamed of himself and his family. His parents had embarrassed him several times in the past, but this was just humiliating. Not to mention, he got into an argument with his mother. What was she thinking? After all these years of loneliness, Danny figured his mom would be happy for him.

"Believe me, I was not expecting my parents to show up like that," he said to Sam who remained unresponsive. The cold autumn breeze blew into the cave, causing Sam to shiver. Danny cast a heating spell on himself and laid down next to Sam. He pulled her closer to him and wrapped his tail around her legs to get her warm.

"I know you're unconscious and you probably can't hear me," Danny said to Sam, "but I might as well tell you now while it's not so awkward. I'm in love with you, Sam. I've probably always had been since the day we met as children. No one has ever made me feel this way about anyone before."

For the longest time, the two just laid there. Danny gently caressed Sam's hair as he watched the sun set into the horizon. He looked down at Sam and pictured her as a mermaid. Her tail would be a royal purple with matching fins on her head and arms (mermaids did not have fins on their backs). Knowing Sam, she would probably want to wear a black tank top instead of the traditional bra mermaids often wore. A _Gothus Angelus_, or "Goth angel", was only seen in the Black Sea. _'Makes sense. She likes black a lot.'_

Danny looked at Sam and noticed ligature marks and suction marks on her wrists and ankles. He then remembered that they came from Spectra's attack. Danny's hand lit up with green energy and held Sam's wrists gently. The bruises on her wrists slowly began to fade away. He would have to wait for Sam to wake up to take care of her ankles.

"Mmmnnnnn…"

Danny stopped what he was doing and saw that Sam was starting to come around. He released a sigh of relief. "Sam?"

Sam's violet eyes slowly began to open. "D-Danny?"

Danny smiled and hugged Sam a little tighter. "Thank Poseidon you're alright," he said.

"What happened?" Sam croaked.

"Your energy had been drained. You were unconscious for awhile," Danny explained.

Sam groaned. "I can't believe I let my guard down around that woman…octopus…whatever she was! I just wanted to find your parents so I could talk to them."

Danny blinked. "Talk to my parents?" he repeated.

Sam realized what she said and looked away, embarrassed. "Y-Yeah. After their surprise visit, I thought I'd go look for them and give them a piece of my mind. Your mom clearly did not like me because of Mr. Masters. I wanted to tell her that I'm nothing like that fruit loop…"

"But you bumped into Spectra instead," Danny finished.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. When she touched me, I started feeling drained. Then you and Tucker and that Sidney kid came and I blacked out."

Danny started playing with strands of Sam's hair. "We managed to get you away from Spectra. I got tangled up in her tentacles though but it didn't last long. Tuck and I managed to get you away from her before things got ugly."

Sam smiled weakly and hugged her boyfriend. "Thank you, Danny. I'm really sorry about everything. I really screwed up."

Danny shook his head. "You did nothing wrong. I should have been more careful. If I knew that my parents were in the area, I would have never insisted on stopping in my grotto."

Something didn't sound right with Sam. "I thought Tucker went ahead to make sure the coast was clear," she said.

Danny realized that Sam was right. Tucker did swim ahead to make sure no unwanted visitors were nearby. He would have warned Sam and Danny ahead of time. Did someone or _something_ see them and lured Danny's parents to the grotto where Sam was?

While the two were pondering this question, they didn't know that three stingrays were spying on them.

* * *

**More drama and fluff coming soon to a computer near you! **

**Thanks everyone for making Fanart for my story! I look forward to seeing more! I love all my reviewers, followers, and artists!  
**


	24. Fighting Instincts

**And to conclude my three-day weekend, I shall give you a new chapter!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 24**

**Fighting Instincts**

The three stingrays went to the shores of Vlad's private beach where he was patiently waiting for them. Vlad saw them and approached them.

"Anything to report?" he asked them.

"Your plan didn't work," said the first stingray in a Yiddish accent. "They're still together."

Vlad's eyes flashed red in anger. "Did Maddie even see them together?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Of course she did!" the second one exclaimed. "The boy just didn't listen to her and swam off to be with the girl."

"Spectra failed too," the third one added. "The Cecaelia boy and the Geek Trout came to the rescue and the Phantom literally put her on ice."

Vlad growled. "This is going to be tougher than I thought," he muttered. "It will take awhile but I'm going to have to bring in the big guns."

The three stingrays gulped, as they knew what Vlad was talking about.

~0~0~0~

The next several weeks went relatively well for the quartet. Valerie was filled in on what happened during Sam's visit under the sea. Valerie was convinced that one of Vlad's minions lured Danny's parents to them, probably to drive Danny and Sam apart.

"Whoever saw you guys in that grotto probably showed up after Tucker checked to see if the coast was clear," Valerie explained one day during lunch. "It's not his fault. I probably would have made the same mistake."

"There's no way you would have made a mistake like that," Tucker assured her. "For someone majoring in criminal justice, you would have checked, like, three times before confirming that the coast was clear."

Valerie blushed at that. Sam decided to change the subject before things got mushy between these two.

"So, what are you guys doing for Thanksgiving?" she asked.

"Dad and I are going to New York City to visit some relatives and check out the parade," Valerie replied.

Daniel and Tucker blinked. "What's Thanksgiving?" they asked simultaneously.

Sam and Valerie's jaws dropped onto the table. Were these two serious? Who hadn't heard of Thanksgiving?

"Seriously?" asked Valerie in disbelief.

"You've never heard of Thanksgiving?" asked Sam.

The boys shook their heads no. Sam face-palmed and she spent the next hour explaining what the holiday was about. The two seemed to understand what it meant.

"That explains why Dick has been spending so much time on the phone with Chuck," said Tucker.

"Who is Chuck?" asked Valerie.

"Charles Doyle," Daniel explained. "He owns a bookstore a couple of blocks from here." He shuddered at the memory of his first encounter with Mr. Doyle when the boy was fourteen.

"I know Mr. Doyle very well," said Sam. "He's a nice guy."

"Until you wreck his yearly holiday poem by accident," Daniel said dully.

Sam stared at Daniel incredulously. "You did what to one of his poems?" she asked.

Daniel turned away, embarrassed. Despite the fact that Mr. Doyle was successful in teaching Danny the joys of the holidays, the memory of going through the lesson itself still left a bitter taste in Danny's mouth.

"Let's just say we crossed paths," Danny said through gritted teeth.

Sam lifted an eyebrow. Tucker then filled her in. "For the first fourteen years of Danny's life, the holidays had always been a traumatizing time for him," he explained.

Daniel put his head in his hands and groaned. "Here we go…"

Tucker then spent a good half-hour explaining to the girls the times Danny suffered through the holidays and managed to survive by the skin of his teeth. When he was fourteen, however, he swam off of blow off some steam and accidentally destroyed Charles Doyle's annual Christmas poem. Enraged, Doyle trapped Danny in another poem to teach him a lesson about the holidays.

"The key to beating him was using an orange as a weapon," Daniel explained.

"An orange?" asked Sam.

"My family were visiting the Florida coast for the holidays," Daniel explained. "Florida is known for its oranges."

"I think Sam meant was, how did you beat Mr. Doyle by using an orange?" asked Valerie.

Daniel smirked. "Nothing rhymes with orange," he said smugly. His three friends burst out laughing. Sam wiped a tear from her eye. It would explain why Mr. Doyle freaked out every time Sam came into the Skulk and Lurk with an orange soda in her hand.

"You said that you knew Mr. Doyle as a teenager," Sam stated. "Is he a merman too?"

Daniel nodded. "Yeah but he's like Clockwork. He spent too much time on land so now he has scaly legs whenever he goes swimming," he explained.

"How long was he on land?" asked Valerie.

Tucker and Daniel paused to think about that.

"I think he roamed the surface from Queen Elizabeth the First's reign to the beginning of World War II," Daniel guessed.

"When Hitler started burning books, he figured it was time for a change of scenery," Tucker added.

The four friends then cleaned up their lunches and started walking to their respective classes. Daniel decided to act a little bold and held Sam's hand as he walked her to class. Sam looked at him questioningly and saw how nervous he was.

Sam smiled at him. "Relax, Danny. You don't have to be scared to hold my hand," she assured him.

"I thought you Goths hated physical contact and whatnot," said Daniel.

"I'll make an exception for you," Sam replied.

Daniel smiled. They reached Sam's classroom and parted ways. The moment Sam let go of Daniel's hand, his blood suddenly ran cold. His heart started beating rapidly. Suddenly it felt like the world was going to crash down on him. He didn't want Sam to let go of his hand but she did.

Daniel panicked and dashed to the bathroom. Luckily no one was in there. He dashed into a stall and locked the door. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead and his breathing fell short. What was happening to him? This had never happened to him before. A stronger desire for Sam was bubbling up inside Daniel and it scared him. His front teeth, normally dull like every human's, began to sharpen.

Daniel slid down to the floor, gripping his raven-black hair. "What the hell is happening to me?" he asked himself.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Dick's phone number.

"Tick Tock Clock Shop, how may I help you?"

"Dick, it's me," said Daniel.

The boy heard a chuckle on the other end of the line. "Right on schedule, Daniel," he said.

"You know what's happening to me?" asked Daniel.

"Your instincts desire her, don't they?" asked Dick.

Knowing what Dick was talking about, Daniel turned red. "No! I mean… I don't know, not like this! Sam would turn me into sushi if we did anything like _that_!" he exclaimed.

Dick chuckled again. "Relax. It's perfectly normal for us and for humans," he explained.

"Any way to suppress it?" asked Daniel. "I don't want to do something Sam would forever hate me for."

"Unfortunately, there isn't," said Dick. "Fighting it is your best bet."

"What if I give in?" Daniel asked worriedly. He could never do anything like _that_ to the girl he loved. He wasn't like Dash who most likely slept with almost every girl on the cheerleader squad.

"I can tell you this much, you won't give in. You'll have close calls, but you won't give in," Dick assured him. He ended the phone call on that note.

~0~0~0~

Danny sighed as he sank further into the bathtub that night. Since the weather was getting colder, Tucker and Danny's transformations were limited to the bathroom every night in the new bathtub Dick finally installed.

Danny was confused about why his body reacted the way it did today. He'd never felt something like this before so why now? He didn't want to be like those bozos he'd seen in movies where the guy and the girl get in bed at the end of the first date. Sam hated that. She loved the fact that Danny was gently courting her instead of sucking on her face every chance he got like Dash and Paulina did. Yes, this was how Sam liked their relationship: slow and steady. Danny wasn't bothered about it either. He had all the time in the world so what was the rush?

Danny groaned as he flexed his tail that was sticking out of the tub. "This sucks," he said aloud. "I miss swimming."

Normally the cold never bothered merfolk. The fact that Danny was experiencing his first autumn and soon-to-be winter in the guise of a human made him wish he was back home where the temperature wasn't that much of an issue. Whenever Danny's family took him to the Antarctic to play with the penguins he'd just wear a scarf and he'd be fine.

When Danny changed back into his human form after the mishap with Sam's visit under the sea, he quickly found out why humans always 'bundled up' in cold weather. Shorts and a shirt were a bad idea.

~0~0~0~

Daniel couldn't sleep one night during Thanksgiving break and decided to go out for a walk. The night air was frigid and crisp. Daniel could feel his nose turn red and runny. The cold air was also making his ears cold, making him wish he had earmuffs. All he had was his red jacket with fluffy white trimming.

His thoughts were in a jumble. How could he hold his instincts in whenever he was around Sam? What if they boiled over? To do something like _that_ to her…Daniel could never do that. Not to mention, it was shameful behavior for his people these days. As the centuries became more and more modern, merfolk decided that they needed to learn some self-control and become less animal-like with humans.

He must have been walking for some time because he found himself very lost. His surroundings consisted of very large, very fancy houses. None of them resembled Vlad's manor so Daniel knew he was safe for the time being. His icy blue eyes were finally starting to feel heavy. _'Great. I finally get tired enough to go to sleep and I have no idea where I am.'_

~0~0~0~

Sam lied on her bed, reading a book. Not her mermaid book, but one Valerie lent to her. She sighed. _'I still don't understand why the jury acquitted this girl. She's clearly guilty. People are getting dumber everyday.'_ She marked her place and closed the book. She wondered what Danny would be doing during Thanksgiving break since his kind didn't celebrate it, yet celebrated Christmas. Then again, he and Tucker mentioned that Mr. Doyle would be coming to the shop so Dick must want them to celebrate it.

Sam was about to get under her covers when her pearl started glowing bright green again. She held it in her hand, wondering why it was reacting like this. She walked to her bedroom window and looked up at the sky. It was pretty cloudy so the moonlight couldn't have made the pearl start glowing (Danny told her that merfolks' pearls often glowed whenever it was exposed to moonlight).

Sam looked at the street and saw a figure standing underneath a lamppost. Sam squinted and recognized the figure's build, scrawny with a hint of muscle. It was Daniel. Sam opened her window; the pearl's light glowing brighter.

"Danny!" Sam called out softly.

Daniel turned and faced Sam. He smiled when he laid eyes on the pearl, now dimming, around her neck.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked.

"I couldn't sleep so I went out for a walk," Daniel explained. "I guess I got lost."

"You're standing outside my house," Sam stated.

Daniel's jaw dropped. This was Sam's house?! She never told him that she was filthy stinkin' rich.

"This is your house?" he asked in disbelief.

Sam replied by throwing a rope ladder (once used by Agnes in her youth) out her window for Daniel to climb up. "I'll explain everything in a moment. Now get inside before you catch pneumonia," she ordered.

Daniel climbed over the fence and landed in the backyard. He quickly dashed to the rope ladder and climbed it. Sam tried helping him inside but somehow he landed face first on her bedroom floor.

"You're not very graceful, are you?" Sam asked. She bent down and helped him up.

"Not in this body," Daniel replied. "Now are you sure this is your house? When I met your parents I thought that they just liked to dress nicely. Then at the country club…that should have been a major clue, huh?"

Sam snorted. "You really are clueless."

"I'm not that clueless," Daniel argued. He should have known. Dick mentioned Manson Cellophane Toothpicks upon meeting her. That should have been his first clue. Sam just giggled.

"So, I take it that you need a place to crash for the night," Sam assumed.

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I don't want to impose…" he started.

Sam put up a hand to silence him. "Forget about it. You're my boyfriend so you're not imposing in the slightest," she assured him.

"It's not you I'm worried about," said Daniel.

Sam knew whom he was talking about. "My parents," she stated. He nodded. Sam sighed. "Well, this is just perfect."

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. "Sammy? I heard a thud coming from your room. Everything alright?" Agnes's voice asked through the door.

Daniel blinked. "I don't know if I should like her or be afraid of her," he whispered.

* * *

**It's one thing if a parent sees a mysterious boy in their daughter's room but a grandparent?**

**I've noticed that some people like it when Danny's merman instincts kick in. Hehehe! I thought I'd take advantage of that and let them give Danny some trouble. Don't worry, he'll get them under control before he does something he'll regret.  
**

**Happy MLK Day!  
**


	25. The Beast Within

**I wanted to make this as fluffy as possible but once again I came up short.  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 25**

**The Beast Within**

Sam opened the door a crack. "Hey Grandma. What are you doing up?" she asked as casually as possible.

Agnes gave her granddaughter a skeptical look. "You know I never go to bed without my cup of mint tea," she said. "And you're not clumsy enough to fall out of your own bed. So what's going on?"

Sam inwardly winced. She couldn't lie to her grandmother. "Well…" she started. She opened the door a little more.

Agnes's eyebrows went up at the sight of Sam's boyfriend in her granddaughter's bedroom. "Was I…was I interrupting something?" Agnes asked Sam.

Sam's face flushed. "Of course not, Grandma!" she exclaimed softly to avoid waking her parents. "He was out for a walk because he couldn't sleep and he got lost."

"And he happened to get lost in front of our house?" Agnes asked skeptically.

"He didn't know we lived here!"

Daniel decided to step in. "Uh, excuse me? Agnes?"

Agnes turned to him and snickered. "Well, well! He remembered to call me Agnes. Good memory, boy."

"Thank you, ma'am," Daniel said nervously. "Do you have a spare bedroom or at least a phone to call my apartment? I left mine there."

Agnes waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, pish-posh! You're welcome to spend the night in the guest room. I'll get some of Jeremy's pajamas out of the laundry room for you to use," she said.

Daniel was still nervous. "I don't know. I don't want to give Sam's parents another reason to hate me," he said apprehensively.

"Well you let me handle Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumbass when the time comes," Agnes assured him. "I did not raise Tweedle-Dumbass to discriminate against the lower and middle class. I don't give a rat's ass about those kinds of petty things. How people handle their money is none of my business." She wheeled herself to the lift attached to the stairs and went down.

Sam then led Daniel to the guest bedroom down the hall. They tiptoed past Jeremy and Pamela's bedroom to avoid waking them. Sam opened the guest bedroom door and let Daniel in.

"I really appreciate this," Daniel said gratefully.

"Think nothing of it," Sam said matter-of-factly.

"Well, thank you anyway."

They both blushed. Daniel's heart skipped a beat and his blood ran cold again. He had to sit on the bed to steady himself. He felt his teeth sharpen as he looked at Sam. _'No! Not here! Not now!'_

Sam noticed that Daniel was beginning to break out in cold sweat and became concerned. "Danny? Are you okay? You look pale," she said.

His breathing became heavy and started panting. Sam noticed that his front teeth were now pointy and sharp like a shark's.

"What's going on? Are your instincts acting up or something?" she asked him.

"I…I don't know," Daniel panted. "I don't understand what's happening to me. Dick understands it more than I do."

"You're not part vampire, are you?" Sam asked jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"No. Vampires hate water."

"Makes sense. Should I get some ibuprofen or something?"

"No," Daniel grunted. "I just need to wait for this to pass."

Sam didn't know what to do. Was Daniel having a seizure or something? She knew that this must be natural for him. It was the only explanation she could come up with. But she couldn't just stand there and watch him suffer through whatever this was.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Daniel suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the bed. Sam looked up and saw Daniel on top of her. His blue eyes had changed to glowing green.

He then lowered his head to the crook of Sam's neck. He then started kissing it and sucking on the skin. Sam remembered that it was near the same spot where Danny gave her a hickey the first time his instincts started acting up. _'Do merfolk have some kind of fixation on the neck? Wait…the neck…maybe he thinks he's kissing where the gills are supposed to be?'_

"So beautiful…" he whispered in his stupor.

Sam was flattered that Daniel called her that. This must have been something mermen do to girls they were attracted to. If he got carried away, Sam would just snap him out of it, such as pinching his hand or hitting him on the head. Yeah, that should bring him to his senses.

A knock on the door snapped Daniel out of his stupor.

"Sammy! You still in there? I found some pajamas Daniel could use for the night," Agnes's voice said through the door.

Sam got off the bed and dashed to the door. "Thanks, Grandma," she said as she took the pajamas from her grandma.

Agnes gave Sam a suspicious look. "You're still on the pill, right?" she asked blankly.

Sam's face turned bright red. "Grandma! Not in front of him!" she exclaimed.

"Pill?" Daniel repeated under his breath. Was Sam sick or something?

Agnes chuckled. "I'm kidding, Sammy. I know you're not reckless and I can tell neither is Daniel. Right, boy?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Daniel replied, having no idea what Agnes was talking about.

"Well, I'm not going to linger here any longer. I'm off to bed," said Agnes. "Good night you two."

"G'night," they said. Agnes then wheeled herself back to her bedroom.

Sam gave Daniel his pajamas. "So, what was that all about?" she asked. "Were you having an episode involving your instincts?"

"I think so," Daniel said with uncertainty. "I don't know what's happening to me."

"Care to explain?" Sam asked.

"Only if you tell me what's wrong with you. Your grandmother asked you if you've taken your pill?" Daniel inquired. "Are you sick or something?"

"My pill… Oh! _That_ pill!" Sam said when she realized what Daniel was talking about. "Uh…right…the pill. Um…it's nothing to worry about. I'm not sick or anything. It's just something human girls take when we reach a certain age," she explained hastily.

Daniel lifted an eyebrow but dropped the subject. He could ask Dick about it later.

"So," Sam started again, "what's happening to you?"

If Daniel's fin-ears were out they'd be drooping in shame. "It's just something my instincts want me to do but I don't want them to," he tried to explain as simply as possible.

Sam's eyebrows went up. She had a pretty good idea what he was talking about. "Well…are you able to keep them under control?" she asked.

"I think so," said Daniel. "I'm just scared that it will all boil over and something bad happens that will make you scared of me."

Sam watched Daniel hide his face behind his bangs in shame. She knew what he was trying to say and he didn't want to give into his instincts for her sake. For someone who wasn't exactly human, Daniel was the most chivalrous person Sam had ever met.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," said Sam. Daniel looked up at her questioningly. "I mean, as much as I hate to admit it, humans have those problems too. It's perfectly natural, although a lot tend to give in at the drop of a hat. Anyway, I know you and you won't give in."

Daniel smiled and excused himself to use the guest bathroom. Sam smiled at their little talk. For once there was someone who was willing to wait until she was ready. Sam thought those kinds of people were extinct. Perhaps she should stop reading all those magazines that come in the mail.

"Sam?"

Sam turned and saw Daniel step out of the bathroom with her father's pajamas on him.

"Do you really think your dad will be fine with me wearing his clothes?" he asked.

Sam snorted. "No. But you heard what my grandma said. She'll take care of him and my mom," she assured him.

Daniel smiled again. "Thanks for everything, Sam," he said.

Sam smiled back and kissed him fully on the lips. Daniel was initially shocked at first but quickly gave into her kiss. Sam was about to pull back when Daniel started kissing down her jaw line and onto her neck. She giggled when she felt his tongue dance on her neck as he was once again giving her a hickey. _'Definitely where the gills would be.'_

She decided that she should have some fun too and gently pushed Daniel back. His eyes were glowing green again and his teeth were once again pointy.

"Don't…make me…stop," he panted. "I've…chosen…you…"

Sam filed that information for later and gave him a sly smile. "My turn," she said cockily. She started kissing his jaw and traveled down his neck. She started giving him a hickey as well. Vibrations were coming from his throat and Sam knew that he was very content with this. She then moved back to his face and started kissing him. She gently let her tongue slide into his mouth, being careful not to scrape it against his shark teeth. Daniel retaliated by sliding his tongue into her mouth. The way their mouths joined was like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle fitting together. Sam couldn't think of a more perfect moment for the two of them. However, Sam decided that this was enough for one night and pinched Daniel's hand.

"OW!" he yelped. "What was that for?"

"To snap you out of it," Sam simply replied. "Maybe this is what you need every now and then. If it keeps your merman instincts in check, I'll be glad to let you kiss me if they start acting up again."

Daniel was shocked at this. "You'd do that…for me?" he asked.

Sam nodded. "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine," she said confidently. "I won't let you give into your instincts if that's what you want."

Daniel was so overcome with happiness that he tackled Sam back onto the bed. "Thank you so much!" he exclaimed softly as he trapped her in a tight hug. He nuzzled his face into her ebony hair. "You have no idea how much this means to me!"

Sam tried to keep her laughter quiet to avoid waking her family. "You really are affectionate!" she laughed.

"What can I say? I'm a lovable person," Daniel replied. He was so happy that Sam was willing to do this for him. She was so understanding. Not many girls would want to stop and hear a guy out. They would just jump to conclusions and get angry easily. Not Sam. She liked to see the evidence before coming to a conclusion.

"I've got to get to bed," said Sam. "Good night."

Daniel pecked her cheek. "Good night," he replied. Sam left the bedroom, leaving Daniel alone. He was so overcome with happiness that he jumped, pumping his fist into the air. "Yes!" he whispered.

~0~0~0~

Sam went to sleep as soon as she got back to her room. This was the happiest she had felt in years. Normally Goths weren't supposed to be so happy but Sam couldn't help it. Being with Daniel always made her smile, no matter how weird he acted sometimes. It had been two years since she dated Elliot. For the first time since then she felt the barrier surrounding her heart slowly beginning to crack. Perhaps this infatuation Sam was feeling was something more.

* * *

**Hopefully this chapter had enough fluff to satisfy you.**

**Well, Grandma seems cool with it. But how will the parents react?  
**


	26. The Prayer

**We'll be doing some little time-skips in this chapter. Mainly because, I want to keep this story moving forward. Think of it as filling in the small unimportant gaps.  
**

**One of the characters will be singing a song and I do NOT own it in any shape or form. I just thought it was suitable.  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 26**

**The Prayer**

Sam swallowed another spoonful of oatmeal as she read the newspaper comics that morning. She called the clock shop to tell Dick where Daniel was which was kind of pointless because Dick knew everything. He even said that he knew Daniel would show up at her house.

"Sammy, why don't you have some bacon?" Pamela offered her daughter.

Sam grimaced at the fried pork product. "I'm perfectly fine, Mom," she declined.

"At least eat some eggs," offered Jeremy.

"No thank you, Dad," Sam answered irritably.

"This vegetarian thing has to stop," said Pamela. "It's not healthy."

Sam rolled her eyes. They had been singing this same song since she finished high school.

Agnes whacked her son's head with the sports section. "Quit badgering her, Jerry. The more you bother her about it, the longer she'll be vegetarian," she reasoned.

Jeremy rubbed his head. "No need to get violent, Mother," he mumbled.

"What's smells delicious?"

The four Mansons turned and saw Daniel entering the kitchen, yawning and scratching himself.

Pamela shrieked at the intruder in her home. "What are you doing here? What do you want?!" she asked hysterically.

"I'm calling the police," said Jeremy.

Agnes whacked both of them with the newspaper to shut them up. "Be quiet, both of you! The boy got lost and he needed a place to stay for the night," she explained.

"He's wearing my clothes, Mother!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"And now he's eating our food!" Pamela added. Daniel sat himself down and helped himself to some breakfast (he was still in the process of waking up).

"Good morning, Danny," Sam greeted.

"'Morning," he grunted. He clearly wasn't a morning person.

Jeremy and Pamela put two and two together and realized how Daniel came into their house.

"Samantha Elizabeth Manson!" Jeremy yelled.

"Did you let this boy into the house while we were asleep?" Pamela asked.

"He was lost and needed a place to stay," Sam defended.

"He couldn't take a cab?" asked Jeremy.

"Who drives a cab in the dead of night?" Sam retorted.

Pamela was about to argue when Agnes struck her and Jeremy in the head again. "Stop it, you two! Jeremy, I did not raise you to be like this!" she scolded. She then turned her attention to Daniel. "Go on and dig in, boy. There's plenty," she said sweetly.

Daniel blinked and turned to Sam. "I think I've decided that I like your grandmother," he told her.

Sam smirked. "A lot of people do," she said.

~0~0~0~

The rest of Thanksgiving break went by uneventfully. Upon learning that Daniel, Tucker, Dick, and Charles Doyle were spending their holiday eating only turkey burgers and watching football all day, Sam and Agnes 'kidnapped' them and took them back to Manson Manor much to Jeremy and Pamela's chagrin.

"Sammy won't eat the leftover turkey and I won't let this meat go to waste. These four idiots are human garbage disposals who will eat anything you put on their plates," Agnes reasoned. "Just think, less leftovers in the fridge."

True to Agnes's word, the four men devoured everything on their plates. They spent the rest of the day in food comas (except Dick who only had one serving so he could still perform his time-keeping duties in private).

The three friends returned to campus on Sunday (Jeremy and Pamela were going to call Sam every night after Daniel's little visit).

"Thanks for the souvenirs, Valerie," said Sam after their morning classes. Valerie went to New York City to visit relatives and she was kind enough to get them all souvenirs. "I love this Statue of Liberty snow globe."

Daniel and Tucker stared at the trinket in awe. Daniel found a snow globe a few weeks ago and Sam told him that it was pretty much used as décor and nothing else. That didn't mean that he couldn't enjoy shaking it occasionally.

"Glad you like it, Sam," said Valerie. "I hope you'll enjoy making that ship-in-a-bottle, Daniel. I thought it would be a nice change of pace from the model rockets you're always making."

"I'll be honest, I've always wondered how people managed to get these ships in these bottles," said Daniel.

"And I love this 'I love New York' t-shirt you got me, Val," Tucker piped up. "I've never even been to New York and I love it already."

Valerie decided to get down to business. "So, did you guys find anything out about Mr. Masters while I was gone?" she asked.

"Nothing so far," said Daniel.

"Knowing Vlad, he'll probably strike again when we least expect it," said Sam.

"I tried asking Dick if he had any idea about what Vlad was up to," said Tucker. "He said that we had to wait and see."

"I think he's established that he won't give anything away if we ask," said Daniel.

~0~0~0~

Maddie looked at a picture of Danny during his younger days. He had changed so much since he was a guppy. He used to be happy-go-lucky when he was younger. Now he was flashing his eyes at his mother for attacking a human girl he unknowingly became engaged to when he was ten.

Maddie saw the pearl around the girl's neck, glowing softly as it allowed her to breathe underwater. The girl didn't seem hostile but then neither was Vlad when Maddie first met him. The pearl's power must have been unlocked when it was exposed to the moonlight for the first time. How else was the girl able to be with Danny in the grotto?

Maddie couldn't help but be worried for the girl. Now that the pearl's powers had been activated, the girl, Sam, was officially engaged to Maddie's son. Maddie didn't know how to handle the fact that Sam was going to be her new daughter-in-law. More importantly, did Sam know what she was getting herself into? What the pearl would slowly do to her as time went on?

Maddie had no idea whom to turn to. So that night, for the first time in over twenty-five years, Maddie swam to the surface to sing to the moon to clear her thoughts.

~0~0~0~

Vlad sat near the fireplace quietly reading a book. It had been a month and still no word from the people he had contacted. Knowing them, they were probably on yet another wild goose chase and wouldn't be back for several days. It didn't matter. Vlad was a patient man when it came to these kinds of things. He just wanted to capture the Phantom before the summer when he'd fall off Vlad's radar for the entire season.

_"I pray you'll be my eyes,_

_ And watch him where he goes…"_

That voice… Vlad hadn't heard that voice in over twenty years. He tossed his book aside and opened the door to the patio. This had to be a dream.

_"And help him to be wise,_

_ And help me to let go._

_ Every mother's prayer,_

_ Every child knows,_

_ Lead him to a place_

_ Guide him with your grace,_

_ To a place where he'll be safe…"_

Vlad looked down the stairs that lead to the beach. There, sitting on a rock on the beach, was Maddie Fenton singing to the moon. She held a picture of young Daniel in her hands. The way she was singing this song sounded like she was worried about something.

_"I pray he finds your light,_

_ And holds in his heart,_

_ As darkness falls each night,_

_ Remind him where you are._

_ Every mother's prayer,_

_ Every child knows,_

_ Need to find a place,_

_ Guide him to a place,_

_ Give him faith so he'll be safe."_

Maddie ended her song and looked up at the moon that was in the last quarter stage. She prayed that Poseidon would hear her prayer and help Danny come to his senses. She couldn't bear the thought of losing her little guppy.

Someone then started clapping, like someone was giving Maddie a round of applause. She turned and saw Vlad Masters slowly approaching her and applauding.

She scowled at the human. "What are you doing here?" she snarled.

Vlad raised his hands in defense. "I was reading a book in my house when I heard your beautiful voice, Maddie. It hasn't changed in the slightest when I last saw you," he complimented.

Maddie frowned at him. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Vlad. I'm still happily married to Jack. My feelings for him have not changed," she told him.

Vlad sighed. He knew it was too good to be true. "Then what brings you to my private beach?" he asked.

Maddie blinked. "I didn't know this was private property," she stated.

"Things have changed since you departed to be with…Jack," he said through gritted teeth.

"I'm aware of that," Maddie said as she folded her arms. "You nearly abducted my son _twice_!"

"I do not know what you are talking about," Vlad fibbed.

Maddie snarled, revealing her pointy front teeth in a threatening manner. "Don't play dumb with me," she hissed. "You tried to abduct my son eleven years ago and you tried again two months ago. You want my son. You want Danny."

"Oh! You mean Daniel Fenton?" Vlad asked, feigning ignorance. "That young man happens to be dating the daughter of a very good friend of mine. Surely your son has told you about Samantha Manson?"

"Samantha? You mean Sam?" asked Maddie.

"You've met her?" asked Vlad.

"Maybe. What's it to you?"

"I find it rather unusual that you've met another human after all these years," Vlad fibbed again. He saw the footage of Sam's visit under the sea and the pearl around her neck intrigued him. The way the pearl glowed and how the girl was able to stay under for that long intrigued him. There had to be a connection.

"What happens in my life now is none of your business," said Maddie. "You know that if I leave Jack, he'll die of heartbreak."

"And yet my heart is still breaking that you chose him over me," said Vlad.

Maddie rolled her eyes at the corniness of Vlad's pickup lines and dove into the water.

Vlad watched the water ripple from Maddie's dive. His attention now went to Samantha. There was something about that pearl that intrigued him. The fact that it allowed Samantha to breathe underwater was proof that it was a mermaid artifact. Vlad had to get his hands on that pearl. Perhaps it could be of use to him.

~0~0~0~

December had officially started. Daniel and Tucker were fascinated with the first morning frost. The fact that the frost melted away by lunchtime intrigued them. They were also looking forward to returning home for the holidays (Tucker more than Danny).

Sam sat on her bed one night in her dorm, looking through her mermaid book once again. She read the entry for the Phantom Merman several times up to this point. It made her feel bad that no mermaid would ever consider being the Phantom's mate. She wouldn't mind being… Sam shook her head.

_'Get it together, Sam! As fun as it sounds, I don't know if I can do it.'_

She went to the index to see what other species of merfolk sounded interesting to her. One sounded interesting to her: _Gothus Angelus_. Sam quickly went to the page it was on and came across a picture of a beautiful mermaid who could easily pull off the Gothic look. Sam never thought mermaids could do that. _'Figures that they can only be found in the Black Sea.'_

_"Sighted only in the Black Sea, these enchanting creatures are notoriously known for controlling underwater plants and algae. They are often quick to anger if any sea mammals are harmed in their territory. Poachers have been reported missing if they ever go hunting in what the locals believe to be their territory.'_

Sam chuckled. "Sounds like my kind of mermaid," she said to herself. She shut her book and got out her laptop to do more research on mermaids. What she found was rather disturbing. A website contained horror stories about mermaids, specifically about the Phantom.

The one before Danny was considered extremely powerful and deadly. Like Dick said, some believed that he was responsible for Amelia Earhart's disappearance. Sam clicked on an artist's concept of what the Phantom looked like. He kind of looked like Danny if he worked on his upper-arm muscles. The way his white hair was styled made it look like it was on fire. White spikes went down his back and tail instead of Danny's normal fish-like dorsal fin. His skin was a greenish-blue. His ears were pointed and he had vampire fangs complete with a forked tongue.

According to the website, the previous Phantom was eventually captured by Clockwork and members of the High Council in Atlantis known as the Observants. He was put to death by being thrown in the Kraken's Pit where he was devoured by the mighty Kraken itself. The Observants knew that a new Phantom would be born eventually. Fearing history would repeat itself the High Council in Atlantis was currently waiting for any mischief from the new Phantom so the Observants could quickly capture him and contain him for the remainder of his days.

Sam's jaw dropped. How could the people of Atlantis actually agree to such a decision? They didn't know Danny like she and her friends knew him. Why should they worry about what Danny was capable of when they should be worried about what Plasmius was up to? Sam thought a Manmade Hybrid was way more dangerous and frightening than the Phantom by a long shot.

* * *

**I changed the lyrics so they would apply to Danny. Other than that, it's the same song we know from 'Quest for Camelot' one of my favorite movies from my childhood.**


	27. Nightmares and Dreams

**More fillers in this chapter. However, I did include a bit of fluff at the end.  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 27**

**Nightmares and Dreams**

"Your boy is what?" Alicia asked her sister during Christmas break. The Fenton family went to the mouth of the Mississippi River where Maddie's sister Alicia lived for the holidays.

"Danny is in love with a human girl," Maddie repeated.

"Foolishness must come from Jack's side of the family," said Alicia. "Falling in love with a human. Ha! You have any idea how often it happens in the Atlantic? Those girls either get lucky or they're sea foam. Makes me wonder when Atlantis will make human transformation spells illegal. We can already grow legs. Why cast a spell that will either make you completely human or kill you?"

"The spell is supposed to keep them human even if they get wet," Maddie explained. "But that's not the point. I'm worried that this girl will break Danny's heart. What will happen to him then? What if his heartbreak will make him like the Phantom before him?"

Alicia rolled her eyes. "Your boy is strong but not evil. What your boy has that the Phantom before him didn't have are friends. If it weren't for that Foley boy you told me about, Danny would probably be a different person. If this girl dumps him, fine. That means they weren't meant to be."

"You don't understand, Alicia. Danny unknowingly proposed to her when they were children," Maddie explained.

"It's child's play," Alicia said dismissively. "I'm pretty sure it doesn't count. I know my nephew. He ain't a total fool like his father."

"The pearl was glowing when I saw her."

Alicia blinked. "Oh. Well… That changes everything."

"You're darn right it changes everything!" Maddie exclaimed.

"Does the girl know that she's engaged to your boy?"

"I don't think so. And I'm afraid that if Danny tells her or if she finds out she'll dump him and break his heart," Maddie said worriedly.

Alicia gripped her chin in thought. "Is there anyway to break it off?" she asked.

Maddie shook her head no. "Either Danny or the girl has to break it off. I don't think Danny wants to do that any time soon. The girl might do it if she finds out."

Jazz, Jack, and Danny suddenly swam into the cave where Alicia lived in.

"Hey, hey! We're back!" Jack greeted. He and his children carried a tall piece of coral shaped like a tree and put it in a corner. "Let's decorate this sucker so Santa can put some goodies under it."

Maddie scoffed. "Jack, how many times do I have to tell you? There is no such thing as Santa! And even if he did exist, he wouldn't be able to come underwater to deliver presents. He'd drown before he hits the first house."

Jack scoffed back. "We're not the only ones with magical powers. Santa can just use his magic to come here. Who needs scuba gear when you have magic?"

Alicia, Danny, and Jazz rolled their eyes as they started decorating their 'tree'. "There they go again," they drawled in unison.

~0~0~0~

Sam found herself walking on the ocean floor in her pajamas. She wasn't wearing her pearl. How was she breathing then?

A flash of green light appeared in front of her. A silhouette that Sam knew belonged to Danny appeared in the light.

"Danny!" Sam called out.

_"I choose you…"_ Danny's voice echoed. _"I need you…"_

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

_"I've…chosen…you…"_

"Chosen me for what?" Sam demanded.

He held his hand out to her. Sam reached for it but something grabbed her other hand. She turned and saw Plasmius holding her wrist in a death grip. He smiled evilly.

"Remember what I told you? This _creature _doesn't make friends with humans like us!" Plasmius reminded Sam.

Sam tried to free herself from his iron grip. "There's only one problem. _You're_ not human!"

Vlad fired a blast of energy at Sam and she fell to the ground. She wasn't seriously hurt but Danny thought differently.

"NOOOOOOO!" Danny's voice screamed. The green light intensified. Sam turned her eyes towards Danny and saw that he went through a complete transformation. His white hair broke out of its ponytail and flew around his face as a large amount of energy engulfed his body. His tailfin was replaced with black scaly legs, his feet webbed. All of his teeth changed to shark teeth, including his molars. His fingernails turned into claws.

Danny turned to Vlad, his eyes glowing so bright his pupils were not visible. He bared his teeth at the Manmade Hybrid.

"You will pay!" Danny hissed in a demonic tone. He then launched towards Vlad for the kill…

~0~0~0~

Sam woke up with a gasp. Her body was drenched in sweat. _'What a nightmare! Usually they don't bother me but this one was…ominous.'_ She took a moment to get her breathing under control before checking the clock: four-thirty a.m. She groaned and plopped her head on her pillow. She hated it when she woke up in all hours of the night.

She wiped her forehead as she thought about her nightmare, if she should call it that. What was that…thing that Danny changed into when she got hurt in her dream? It looked more like a demon than a merman. Whatever it was scared her. Was Danny going to turn into that…that monster if Plasmius tried to hurt her?

Sam pulled out her shell phone (provided by Clockwork) and dialed Danny's shell phone number. Since she was unable to contact him through his cell phone while he was with his family, he gave her his shell phone number to call him whenever she wanted.

"Mmmm…hello?" Danny's voice groaned.

"Danny? It's me," Sam answered.

"Sam? Why are you calling me at…six-thirty here in the Gulf?" Danny asked.

The nightmare made Sam shiver again. "Just…wanted to hear your voice. Make sure you were okay," she mumbled.

There was a moment of silence before Danny answered. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" he asked.

"I had a really…God-awful nightmare," Sam answered, her voice quivering.

"Sam, calm down. It was just a dream," Danny assured her.

"Danny…Plasmius was in it and he hurt me," Sam explained. "Then you…you…you turned into a some kind of monster!" Tears were flowing down her cheeks at this point. "It felt so real! I hardly recognized you."

"It's okay," Danny said in a soothing voice. "It was just a dream. Nothing will happen to either of us. I won't let Vlad do anything to you."

Sam sniffled. "Promise?"

"Promise."

Sam grinned a little. "Thanks, Danny. I feel a little better after telling you about it. Thanks for listening."

A yawn was heard from Danny's end of the line. "Anytime. Can I go back to sleep now?" he asked.

Sam giggled. "Yeah, you can go back to sleep. Sorry I woke you."

"Don't mention it," Danny yawned.

"Good night."

"'Night. Happy Hanukkah, Sam."

Sam smiled. "Thanks." The call ended. Sam felt bad about waking Danny in the middle of the night just to tell him about a nightmare she had but he was the only one she could turn to since her family wasn't an option. Dick could have been an option but he hated being woken up in the middle of the night, even if he saw it coming.

Sam sighed and went back to sleep.

~0~0~0~

"Jazz, could you wake up your brother?" Maddie asked her daughter. "I won't let him sleep through the entire break."

Jazz nodded and swam to the guest room her brother was sleeping in. She knocked on the door. "Danny! Time to wake up! Mom's orders!" she yelled in an effort to wake her brother up. An energy blast was Danny's response. It made a hole in the door and made a scorch mark on the cave wall.

Alicia growled. "How many times do I have to tell that boy?" She swam into her nephew's room and blasted an energy spell of her own at him. A terrified yell could be heard all the way from the kitchen. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU, BOY? NO SPELL CASTING IN MY HOUSE!" Alicia screeched.

"You're doing it!" Danny argued.

"IT'S MY HOUSE! I CAN DO IT IF I WANT TO! AND I WANT TO GET YOUR LAZY TAILFIN OUT OF BED!"

Another energy blast was heard and Danny swam out of his room, terrified. "MOM!" he yelled in terror. "Aunt Alicia is trying to kill me again!" He hid behind his mother like he did when he was a child.

"Danny, you're 21 years old," Maddie reasoned. "Using me as a hiding place isn't going to work anymore."

"You're right," he said. He hid behind Jazz instead. "She likes you. She won't beat the stuffing out of me if you're protecting me," he told his sister.

"Don't use me as a shield," Jazz scolded.

Alicia swam into the kitchen in a huff. When she saw that her nephew was hiding behind Jazz, she calmed down a little. "You're lucky your sister was in the room," she told Danny. She swam off to tend to her kelp garden. Maddie followed her.

Jazz turned to her brother. "Why did you attack me? I know you're grumpy in the morning but you haven't done that since you started high school."

Danny yawned as he ate some fish flakes (a breakfast food for merfolk; not to be confused with fish food). "Sam called super early this morning," he said with his mouth full. He swallowed and continued. "She had a nightmare and she had to tell me about."

Jazz raised an eyebrow. "That's why she called? To tell you about a dream she had?" she asked in disbelief.

"This one really scared her," said Danny. "She broke down crying in the middle of the phone call."

"What was it about? Did she tell you?"

"She dreamt she got hurt by Plasmius and I went ballistic. She said that I completely changed, like 'turned-into-a-monster' changed," Danny described.

Jazz's eyebrows shot straight up. "That _must _have been a scary dream. Only the previous Phantom went through that transformation."

"Am I, like, the reincarnation of the previous Phantom or something?" asked Danny irritably. "Because everyone is always comparing me to him."

"No. He was just so infamous for everything he put our people through," Jazz explained. "He took countless lives, including Amelia Earhart's. It was a miracle Clockwork and the Observants managed to capture him without getting killed."

"I'm surprised the Kraken didn't get killed when it was eating him," Danny muttered. "How is it that I'm the only one who is a Phantom? You'd think there would be at least one or two others like me. Our kind tends to live well over a five hundred years."

"Because the Phantom is constantly causing chaos for every living creature on the planet," Jazz said but she paused when she saw her brother glare at her. "…except you."

"Nice save," Danny drawled sarcastically.

"We don't know how long our life span is. Look at Clockwork," said Jazz.

"Okay, _most_ of us live over five hundred years," Danny corrected himself.

~0~0~0~

Danny found himself looking through the darkness of the ocean. He saw a figure emerge from it and he recognized it as Sam. Overcome with happiness, he swam to her and embraced her. The two of them kissed passionately. Sam's body lit up with a purple light. The pearl around her neck broke free from the chain it was attached to. It turned into a little glowing ball of purple and green light. It then hit Sam squarely in the heart, engulfing her in light.

Danny shielded his eyes until the light dimmed down. Floating before him was Sam as a _Gothus Angelus_ mermaid. Sam cupped Danny's face in her now webbed hands, staring lovingly into his eyes.

As she placed her lips on his, only one word was heard: _'Yes.'_

If only this was real and not a dream.

* * *

**Spare me the comments on how short this chapter is. It's better than nothing, right?**

**Congratulations, Spectral Angel! You are my 300th reviewer! I give you a pie!  
**


	28. Sudden Realization

**I think you might like this chapter. Sam has a sudden epiphany!  
**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 28**

**Sudden Realization**

If there was one thing Sam hated more than meat and babysitting her cousins, it was Vlad Masters coming over to visit. He even gave Sam a Hanukkah present (a bracelet) but Sam just threw it in the hall closet when he wasn't looking. Knowing Vlad, he probably put some kind of tracer or microphone on it to listen to her every move. Maybe she could give it to her neighbor's dog. That mutt would eat anything…

"I must be honest with you, Jeremy. I've never celebrated a Jewish holiday before," Vlad admitted. "This will be a very interesting experience."

"I hope you enjoy it, Vlad," Jeremy replied. Sam could practically see the lies rolling off the fruit loop's tongue. He might not have celebrated a Jewish holiday but Sam was pretty sure he didn't care how interesting it would be.

"And Samantha, I hear that you are seeing someone," Vlad said.

Sam let out a huff. "You should know. You tried to kill him three months ago," she mumbled softly. No one heard her.

Pamela piped up. "Unfortunately. She's seeing that strange boy who gave back her wallet after her accident," she sniffed.

"I think he's up to something," said Jeremy. "He actually snuck into our house one night!"

Vlad gasped in feigned surprise. "He did not!"

"You better believe it, Vlad," Pamela confirmed. "He snuck into our house, wore Jeremy's pajamas, and ate some of our food."

Sam had enough. "Would you two stop it?!" she cried out. "That's not how it is between Danny and me. He didn't sneak into the house. I let him in. He got lost and needed a place to crash for the night. Grandma lent him some of Dad's pajamas to sleep in."

"Shame on you both," Grandma added.

Sam excused herself from the table and went up to her room to cool off.

~0~0~0~

Sam later opened a present Danny gave her before he left for break. It was a simple black billiard ball with the number eight he found on the ocean floor. Sam smiled, as she knew that he didn't have a clue about what the ball meant or what it was used for. Too bad it wasn't one of those Magic 8 balls but Sam didn't care. She appreciated the fact that it was the thought that counted.

Tucker gave Sam an old Super Nintendo game cartridge of _The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past_. Too bad it was water-damaged, it would have been fun to play it again. Sam liked the fact that those two made pieces of junk seem like a treasure.

"Samantha?"

Sam looked up and saw Vlad leaning against Sam's bedroom doorframe.

She scowled at him. "What do you want?" she snarled.

Vlad walked toward the girl, his arms crossed. "I noticed that you aren't wearing the bracelet I gave you. Don't you like it?" he asked.

Sam narrowed her eyes. "Knowing you, you've probably did something to it so it could work against me," she said. "Besides, gold is not really a Gothic accessory."

Vlad quirked an eyebrow. "Oh? And I suppose _pearls_ are?" he inquired.

Sam instinctively grabbed her bat-winged pearl around her neck. "This was a special gift from my boyfriend. He made this for me."

Vlad eyed her other gifts. "An old game cartridge and a billiard ball?" he observed. He picked up the ball and observed it in his hand. "It's not even one of those fortune-telling toys. It's just an ordinary billiard ball."

Sam snatched it out of his hand. "Keep your slimy hands off my stuff," she hissed.

Vlad held the pearl in his hand. "It's quite a gem. Although it's not very Gothic either, don't you think?" he asked.

"I told you. It was a special present from Danny," she repeated.

"I must say that it's no ordinary pearl," said Vlad. She wasn't showing it but this was making Sam nervous. Vlad was going into dangerous territory. What was he up to?

He then noticed the old beer bottle on Sam's nightstand. "Still holding onto that piece of garbage?"

Now Sam was angry. "It is not garbage," she hissed. "You have no right to decide what's trash and what's not. Now get out of my room."

Vlad grabbed Sam's pendant from around her neck. "This pearl holds some sort of power," he said. He tried yanking it off Sam's neck but it wouldn't break.

Sam reflexively grabbed Vlad's wrists. "Let me go, you crazed-up fruit loop!" she exclaimed.

"I just want to borrow your necklace for a little while," said Vlad as he struggled to break the chain around the Goth's neck.

"The necklace itself is made from discarded clock parts. It's not like the traditional necklace chain," Sam explained as she continued to break free.

Vlad pulled harder on the pendant when the pearl, as if sensing Sam's hatred towards the man, lit up brightly in his hand. Vlad cried out in pain and let go. A burn was blistering on Vlad's palm. Sam immediately knew that the pearl was to blame. _'It must have been protecting me or something.'_ Vlad's eyes flashed blood red as he stared at the girl.

"You'll regret that," he growled. He lunged at Sam who quickly got out of the way. She ran out of her room and zoomed out of the house. She couldn't go back until he was out of the house. The pearl's glowing was beginning to dim but Sam didn't notice.

She ran to her grandmother's bedroom and hid in her closet.

"Sammy? Since when do college students play hide-and-seek?"

Sam poked her head out of the closet and saw Agnes Manson sitting in her easy chair, reading a book.

"Sorry, Grandma. Vlad tried to hurt me again," Sam murmured. She wondered why Vlad hadn't come breaking down the door yet. Then she remembered that the pearl burned Vlad's skin. It must have done more damage than she thought.

Agnes lifted an eyebrow. "Now when you say 'hurt'…"

"I mean he almost strangled me while trying to steal my pendant from around my neck!" Sam exclaimed.

Agnes eyed the pearl around the Goth's neck and saw that the glowing had almost snuffed out. "That's an unusual pearl, dear," she observed.

Sam looked down her front and saw the glowing gem wink out. "Yes, it is," she said. "This thing has helped me in more ways than one."

"Where did you get it?"

"Danny gave it to me," Sam said. "He actually gave it to me a long time ago." The memories of that summer came back to her. Danny's glowing green eyes staring fearfully at her from the net he was trapped in. The way he smiled when he healed her foot with a healing spell and gave her a beer bottle full of what he considered to be treasure. Sam especially loved it when he brought a bag full of junk for her to analyze and explain how they worked. The way he stared at her quizzically after each explanation made her smile.

"Is your relationship with him serious?" asked Agnes.

Sam's face turned deep red. "I'd say yes. It's pretty serious. He's been…a perfect gentleman," she said fondly as she stared at the gem around her neck.

Agnes smirked. "Do you think he's the one?"

Sam's face became even redder. "I don't know about that!" she exclaimed.

"Do you love him?"

Sam's heart stopped. She thought about the memories she made with Danny for the past few months. Hearing him sing "The Summer Wind", "Crush", "Moon River", and "the Girl From Ipanema". Dancing to "Simple and Clean" at the Fall Ball. Reconnecting with him after he rescued her after she fell from the pier. Revealing his true identity after their nightmarish weekend at Vlad's. Their date at the aquarium and seeing the angelfish dance. Nursing him back to health whenever he got hurt. Making out whenever Danny's instincts acted up. Exploring the depths of the ocean with him.

So many memories were made with Danny after a few short months with him. The barrier surrounding Sam's heart shattered. She loved Danny. No question about it. Just being with him made her happy even if she was Goth. She knew that he was still keeping secrets from her; she could tell. But with some patience he might tell her them eventually.

"I…I do," she said. "I love him."

Agnes smiled. "I figured as much. When I saw you two dancing together at the Fall Ball, I had a feeling that your heart was beginning to open up. It wasn't until he snuck into the house that I knew that he might be the one who will make my little granddaughter happy."

Sam's smiled was wiped away when Vlad started pounding on the bedroom door.

"I know you're in there, Samantha!" he yelled.

Agnes grabbed her cane and walked to her bed. She knelt down and reached under her bed. "Here, dear. You're going to need this," she said.

Sam took it and immediately recognized it. "Another rope ladder? But I thought you only had one," she said.

"I learned as a teenager that it's always best to carry an extra," Agnes said with a wink.

Sam smiled and kissed her grandmother's forehead. "Thanks Grandma," she said as she tossed the rope ladder out the window. She then climbed out the window.

"I'll keep him busy," said Agnes. "Go! If your parents ask, I'll tell them you went to Valerie's."

"Thanks again!" Sam yelled, already halfway down the ladder.

When she reached the ground, she heard a lot of crashing and banging coming from her grandmother's bedroom. She was concerned at first until she heard Agnes yelling, "Out of my bedroom, you fruit loop! There's no way you're laying a hand on my granddaughter!"

"Agnes, calm down!" Vlad yelled. "I was just – hey! Don't throw that shoe at me! Ow! Not your cane! Ow!"

Yeah, Agnes could take care of herself. Sam didn't need to worry about her. She ran out of the backyard and into the night. Anywhere was safer than her house.

~0~0~0~

Sam eventually stopped to catch her breath in the park. She shivered. _'I should have gotten a jacket when I had the chance.'_ If Vlad hadn't been chasing after her, she would have at least grabbed a sweater to keep warm.

She sat down on a bench and hugged herself to keep warm. Sam wished that Danny were with her right now. He'd give her his red coat or use a heating spell to warm her up. Then he'd realize what he was doing and back off in case he was overstepping her boundaries that he respected so much.

A drop of water fell on Sam's knee. She realized that she was crying. She didn't know if it was because she missed Danny or the events that just happened at her house had finally caught up to her. Probably both.

Vlad was now after Sam's pearl. _'He probably wants it to use as bait, the fruit loop.'_ This gem was more powerful than Sam gave it credit for. It not only knew when Danny was nearby but now Sam knew that it protected her from Vlad. Sam didn't know what Danny did that made the pearl act this way but she was grateful.

Sam felt her chest tighten. She loved Danny. There was no way she was going to deny it any longer. He cared about her so much.

She looked up at the sky and saw a waning crescent moon. She sniffled and took a deep breath. She wanted to try something…

"_The first time I loved forever_

_Was when you whispered my name._

_And I knew at once you loved me_

_For the me of who I am…"_

Little did Sam know that the pearl was reacting to her voice and started glowing green again.

"_The first time I loved forever_

_I cast all else aside._

_And I bid my heart to follow_

_Be there no more need to hide…"_

Sam knew that this was her heart singing, not her.

"_And if wishes and dreams are merely for children_

_And if love's a tale for fools I'll live the dream with you…"_

Love must be the same in every race. Sam didn't have to be Goth to know where her heart stood.

"_For all my life and forever_

_There's a truth I will always know._

_When my world divides and shatters,_

_Your love is where I'll go."_

~0~0~0~

Clockwork looked at Sam through his time orb. When she stopped singing she noticed that her pearl was glowing again.

"Is this thing going to glow for every little thing I do?" she asked to no one in particular.

Clockwork shook his head. "You have no idea what will soon happen to you in the months to come, Samantha," he said.

Sam sighed. "I wonder if Vlad's gone yet. The sooner this whole thing ends, the better," she said to herself.

"Unfortunately for you, Samantha, this is only the beginning," said Clockwork as her image faded away from the time orb.

* * *

**I know Sam has sung with the pearl in her possession before but this time is different. ;)**

**I do not own this song. It rightfully belongs to Lisa Angelle. I thought this was an appropriate song for Sam. I've been wanting to do this song for awhile.  
**

**Thank you, jeanette9a and CartoonFreakshow! I love your artwork! I hope more people do some too!  
**


	29. Just What the Doctor Ordered

**Things have been going slowly for me. *sniff* I'm in the recovering stage of a cold. ACHOO! *sniff*  
**

**Anyway, here's a new update since I'm feeling a little better. There's a fluffy scene in this chapter.  
**

**Enjoy! ACHOO!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 29**

**Just What the Doctor Ordered  
**

Contrary to what Sam thought, Vlad was actually in her private bathroom running water on the burn the pearl left behind while Sam was with her grandmother. He also was looking for a DNA sample from her. He managed to snatch a hair from her hairbrush before patching up his burn and went to look for the girl.

Vlad sat patiently in front of his computer that was analyzing Sam's hair. He was currently in his penthouse in New York City on a business trip.

A beep from his computer announced his findings. He looked at it and smiled evilly. "Well, this changes everything," he said to himself. "Samantha has no idea what the future has in store for her. Perhaps when it becomes more noticeable she'll have second thoughts about Daniel."

~0~0~0~

Sam stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. The second semester was about to start and she and Valerie just returned to their dorms.

"That is just what the doctor ordered," Sam sighed blissfully.

"I know what you mean," said Valerie. "I always feel refreshed and restored after a good shower." She then noticed something off about her roommate. "Girl, you missed a spot. There's something on your arm."

Sam lifted her forearm and noticed something black on it. She grabbed a bit of her towel and rubbed the spot that was about the size of a dime. The spot eventually went away.

"Well, whatever it was it's gone now," she said. She then went behind a curtain that blocked what was supposed to be their closet and got dressed.

Valerie shrugged. "It was probably a speck of dirt of something," she said. "So how did you escape from Vlad when he tried to steal the weird pearl?"

"The pearl suddenly started glowing and _burned_ his hand!" Sam exclaimed from behind the curtain.

Valerie's eye shot up. "It _burned_ him?" she repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah. I was just as shocked as you are."

"That thing is weirder than I thought," Valerie muttered. "So are you looking forward to the start of the second semester?"

"Yeah," Sam answered as she came out of the closet. "Anywhere is better than home where Vlad could easily snatch my pearl again."

Valerie looked at Sam's dried out Yu-Gi-Oh cards from her treasure bottle. "Why do you think Vlad wants your pearl so much?" she asked.

Sam shrugged as she fingered the bullet shell casings. "I don't know. After seeing it do all these weird things lately who wouldn't want it?"

A knock on the door in a 'Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits' rhythm interrupted their conversation. Valerie answered the door to see Daniel and Tucker standing in the hallway.

"Hey, guys. Glad to see you again, Tucker," Valerie greeted as she gave both boys a hug (Tucker's was extra tight).

"Hey, Val," the boys greeted back in unison. Valerie let them in.

Sam smiled when she saw Daniel enter the room. "Hey Danny," she greeted. The two exchanged a kiss.

"You two lovebirds better not start making out," Valerie warned.

Daniel glared jokingly at Valerie. "I'll stop when Tucker admits he likes you."

Tucker turned bright red. "Dude! You promised not to tell!" he exclaimed. He realized what he said and Valerie turned away in embarrassment.

Sam smiled smugly. "I knew it," she said. She then held her palm out to Daniel. "Pay up." Daniel rolled his eyes and put a five-dollar bill in her hand.

"Note to self, never gamble against a girl again," Daniel muttered to himself.

~0~0~0~

The two lovebirds went out for a walk on the beach later that evening. They were going to stop by at the cave and look at the stars.

"Hey, it's Fen-turd!" a familiar voice called out.

Both stopped in their tracks and turned around. Dash and Paulina approached them.

Sam sneered at them. "What are you two doing here?" she asked.

"We were on a walk when we saw you two walking together," Paulina explained. "I didn't know losers were attracted to freaks."

"And I didn't know shallow witches were attracted to Neanderthals," Sam retorted.

Paulina's eye twitched. "Did you just call me _shallow_?" she asked in disbelief.

Dash scratched his head. "I'm pulling a blank. What's a Neanderthal again?" he asked stupidly.

Paulina rolled her eyes. "She's calling you a stupid ape," she explained.

Dash turned red. "What did you call me?" he asked Sam in anger.

Daniel got in-between Sam and Dash. "Back off, Dash," he said warningly.

"Or what, Fen-toad? You're going to kick sand in my face?" Dash barked back.

Daniel smiled mischievously. "Good idea. Thanks," he said. He kicked sand in Dash's face.

"AUGH! I can't see!" Dash yelled, spitting sand out of his mouth.

Daniel grabbed Sam's hand and they both fled.

"Get back here you two freaks!" Paulina yelled.

Neither of them stopped running until they reached the cave.

"I…I really hate those two," Sam panted.

"I know. Did I tell you Paulina flunked Philosophy?" Daniel asked.

Sam chuckled. "I always knew she was dumb as a post," she said. The two laughed and sat down on the rocks and looked up at the stars.

"You know, Vlad came to my house during break," Sam started after a few moments of silence.

Daniel turned his head in alarm. "He came to your house?" he asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. He tried to take my necklace and chased me all over the house. If the pearl hadn't burned his hand, he would have gotten it."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "The pearl burned him?" he parroted.

"Yeah. It was the weirdest thing ever. As I was trying to get him to let go, the pearl just lit up and he dropped me, his hand was blistering," she explained.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Daniel asked in concern.

"Besides the lacerations I got from his attempt to steal my pearl, I didn't get hurt," Sam replied. She pulled her shirt collar down a little to show the bruise on her neck that was in the process of healing.

Daniel got a good look at it and his hand starting glowing green. He moved it towards Sam's neck but stopped himself. He looked up at Sam to make sure it was all right to do this. She nodded, giving him permission to heal her. Daniel then gingerly pressed his hand on the front of her neck. His other hand started glowing too. He gently put it on the back of Sam's neck in case the bruises extended there too. He then let go of Sam's neck and let the magic do the rest.

Sam giggled as the green light healed the bruises around her neck. As soon as the light faded away Sam said to Daniel, "Thank you. That's just what the doctor ordered."

Daniel chuckled. "Who said that the doctor was done with his patient?" he asked seductively as he moved closer to Sam. His eyes started glowing green. She had a feeling where this was going.

Sam held in a giggle. "What's your diagnosis, doctor?" she asked playfully.

"I see there's something wrong your lips. The only way to fix it is to apply the medicine mouth-to-mouth," Daniel replied. His lips met hers. Almost instantly his instincts began to act up.

Parts of his human disguise melted away. His ears and his gills were now visible. He stared at Sam through half-lidded green eyes and started kissing along her jawbone. Danny was about to start sucking on Sam's neck when she gently pushed him back.

Sam gulped and hesitantly asked, "Is…is it okay if I try something first?"

He slowly nodded and leaned forward till his head rested on her shoulder. Sam looked at the gills on Danny's neck. She gulped again._ 'I can't believe I'm doing this!'_ She then started kissing his gills. Danny let out a yelp as he clenched his fists. Thinking that she wasn't supposed to do that, she stopped.

"No," Danny panted. "Don't stop. Keep…going."

Sam continued kissing his gills without another word. Danny continued to moan in happiness. Sam was even bold enough to run her tongue underneath the edges of his gills. Danny let out a yelp as she did this. He then gently pushed Sam back and did the same only his inner merman was disappointed that she did not have gills like he did.

"If only…you were…like…me," he whispered. Sam embraced him. _'If…if I were like Danny…maybe…maybe his family would like me more…'_ Little did she know that the black spot from earlier reappeared on her forearm only slightly bigger.

"It's only…a matter…of time," he panted as he kissed and licked her neck.

"Time? Time for what?" Sam asked. He only responded by nuzzling her neck. Sam sighed. It was pointless to ask him what he was talking about. He usually forgot anything he said when he was having an episode. Maybe Clockwork could shed some light on Danny's strange behavior.

~0~0~0~

Tucker and Daniel both released large yawns the following day. The four friends were exhausted from their first day back in classes. Sam looked dead on her feet and Valerie was as irritable as a killer bee.

"Hey look! It's the losers club together again!" Dash taunted as he approached the group.

Valerie gave Dash a death glare that he didn't acknowledge.

"Could you be smart for once and go away, Dash?" Sam asked irritably.

"What's the matter? Didn't get enough of your beauty sleep?" Paulina asked, coming up from behind Dash. "Not that you have any beauty to begin with."

"Says you!" Valerie barked. "Unlike us, you probably look like the Wicked Witch of the West without your sleep!"

Paulina stared at Valerie in disbelief. "At least I'm not a tomboy like you or your freaky roommate," Paulina retorted.

"Better to be a tomboy than a shallow witch," Sam muttered.

"Don't call my girlfriend shallow!" Dash scolded. He marched towards Sam but Daniel once again got in-between the two.

"Don't you _dare_ hurt her," Daniel growled. He had to use every ounce of willpower not to flash his eyes at Dash.

"Okay then. I'll settle with you," Dash replied and then punched Daniel in the face. Dash and Paulina then walked away.

"Danny!" Sam cried. She, Tucker, and Valerie gathered around Daniel and helped him up.

"You okay, man?" asked Tucker.

"Yeah. I will be," Daniel answered. His eye was beginning to swell.

"You gonna heal that? It looks nasty," said Valerie.

Daniel looked around to make sure the coast was clear and his hand lit up with green energy. He gently placed his hand over his eye and healed it.

"Whew! Much better!" he said.

~0~0~0~

The boys invited Sam and Valerie to dinner on Saturday. While everyone else had grilled chicken, Sam simply had a salad. When they were done, Daniel and Tucker did the dishes. They didn't use rubber gloves since Sam and Valerie already knew their true identities.

"It's gonna take awhile for me to get used to the fact that your hands get like that when you do the dishes," Valerie stated.

"It comes with the whole part-fish thing," Tucker explained like it was no big deal.

Meanwhile, Sam was finishing using the bathroom. She rolled up her sleeves and began washing her hands. She brushed some of her hair out of her face when she noticed that the same black spot from before had come back on her forearm. It looked slightly bigger.

"What is this?" she asked herself. She tried rubbing it away only for it to grow a little bigger. At this point it was about the size of a nickel. She squinted at it. Either the light was playing tricks on her or there were scales on this thing.

~0~0~0~

"So, you and Valerie. How long has that been going on?" Danny asked Tucker later on that evening. The two of them said good-bye to the girls and they went to take their baths.

Tucker, who was in the shower, turned red. "Since, I don't know, before Winter Break," he answered as his tentacles adjusted its grip on the shower walls.

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Is it serious?" he asked.

"Not as serious as you and Sam," Tucker replied. "How are you handling your little fits?"

"I think I had one on Sunday. One moment Sam and I were walking on the beach, the next moment we're in the cave and I somehow had some of my fins out," Danny explained.

"Remember anything?"

Danny shook his head. "Not really," he grumbled. "I don't understand. Why is this happening to me? I thought we only relied on our instincts when we were at death's door or during mating season."

"True but when you've chosen your intended mate, your instincts go haywire or something," Tucker explained. "At least that's what my mom told me when I asked her. I hadn't seen her face that red since the time I asked her where a mermaid's egg sack came from."

"Shoving that disturbing little story aside, what do you think I should do?" Danny asked. "I don't want to do something we're both going to regret. That would probably make her parents get a restraining order against me."

"I thought making out was helping you stay in check," said Tucker.

"It has but it's not enough. Even if I use my powers a little around her, my instincts act up. Sam's not complaining about it but it's only a matter of time before she does," Danny said worriedly.

"Maybe you should talk to Clockwork about it. He'll know what to do," Tucker suggested.

"Remember the last time we turned to him for advice?"

"Right. Not helpful in the least."

Danny sighed and sank deeper into the bathtub. "I guess we're on our own."

* * *

**What is happening to our heroes? Well, you'll just have to wait and find out! **

**Things are going to get weirder for Sam! What till she learns what's happening to her!  
**


	30. Changes

**Huzzah! A new chapter is finally here! This one is intense! We're going to pick up speed in this chapter!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 30**

**Changes**

Throughout the month of January, the quartet managed to get through their classes uneventfully. Sam's parents were constantly calling her to check on her. Sam also noticed something weird going on with her body. More black spots had been appearing on her arm whenever she stepped out of the shower. She never called it to her friends' attention because the spots would eventually disappear. No big deal. Nothing to worry about.

On one afternoon, Sam realized that it was more serious than she thought.

"Aaahhh…nothing like a nice, hot shower to wash your troubles away," Sam sighed as she stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her.

Valerie was brushing her teeth when she noticed something about Sam that was so off, the African American girl did a spit-take.

"Sam! What the hell is wrong with your arm?" she asked in alarm.

Sam looked at her arm. "I don't know what is going on," she honestly explained. "But they eventually go away after awhile so I didn't think it was something to worry about."

"Girl, look at your other arm," Valerie told her.

Sam looked at her other arm and let out a yelp. "Where did THAT come from?" she yelled. Four black spots were visible on her other forearm.

"Sam, you better check your legs just in case," Valerie said.

Sam dashed into the changing room and checked herself over. A small scream was heard on the other side of the curtain. "There are more on my legs!" she screamed.

"Put something on and let me take a good look," said Valerie. Sam slipped on some sweats and a t-shirt and came out. When Valerie rolled up Sam's pant leg, sure enough, there were more spots on her legs only these were a royal purple in color.

"What the hell is happening to me?" Sam asked. "It's never been this bad."

Valerie snapped her head up at this revelation. "How long has this been going on?" she asked.

"It started on my arm but it quickly went away. I thought it was a smudge at first but it kept coming back every time I washed my hands or showered," Sam explained.

Valerie went back to looking at the spots that were slowly disappearing. "You said that they only appear when you get wet?" she asked.

"Yeah."

Valerie led Sam back to their bathroom and ran Sam's hand under some cold water in the sink. The spots on her arm became more visible.

"Boy, does this look familiar," Valerie remarked.

"What does?" Sam asked.

Valerie sighed. "Sam. Look at these spots closely. Do they look familiar to you?"

Sam squinted to get a closer look at her arm. The spots looked like scales, scales one could find…on a…fish.

Sam's eyes widened. Her breathing suddenly quickened. This wasn't what she thought it was, was it? Sam looked at Valerie pleadingly.

"Put your leg on the counter. We have to make sure," said Valerie. Sam did so and Valerie ran cold water on her roommate's leg. The purple spots reappeared. Valerie got out a magnifying glass (a souvenir from New York during Thanksgiving break) and hovered it over Sam's leg. Sam leaned in to get a closer look. The spots looked like fish scales.

Valerie looked up at Sam. "Oh God, Sam. It's growing on your skin. I don't need to take marine biology to know that these are fish scales," she said in fright.

Sam paled. Why were there fish scales growing on her body? Only Danny's skin grew fish scales whenever he got…wet…

She gasped. She didn't like where this was going. If her guess was true…

"Val, grab your keys. We're going to Tick Tock Clock Shop," Sam said hastily.

~0~0~0~

Daniel and Tucker were watching _Battlestar Galactica _in the living room when Dick came out of his study.

"You two might want to run," he told them.

The boys looked up at their landlord in confusion.

"Why would we want to run?" asked Daniel.

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

"ONE OF YOU BETTER OPEN THIS DOOR OR I'LL KNOCK IT DOWN!" Valerie's voice shrieked.

Both boys paled.

"That's why," Dick replied.

"Crud!"

"What did we do?"

Dick went downstairs to open the back door. The sound of a door being knocked open and a grunt could be heard from downstairs. Tucker knew that Valerie must have shoved the door open so quickly that it knocked Dick into a wall. The boys heard Sam and Valerie stomping upstairs and they quickly ran and hid.

"I know you two are in here!" Valerie yelled. "You've got some explaining to do!" Silence. "I'm not leaving until you come out!"

More silence. Valerie sighed. She knew only one way to lure one of them out of hiding. "It has something to do with Sam," she added calmly.

Daniel's head slowly peeked out from behind an easy chair. "What's wrong with Sam?" he squeaked that was mostly due to fear of Valerie's wrath.

"Where's Tucker?" asked Sam. Daniel just shrugged. Sam rolled her eyes. "Hey, look! Guess who brought the new Wii U over?" she asked out loud. It was clear that she was acting.

Tucker came out of the closet. "Sam has the new Wii U?" he asked hopefully.

Val and Sam looked at each other and tackled their respective boyfriends. They dragged them to the kitchen.

"Whatever it was, we didn't do it!" Daniel yelled.

"I had nothing to do with it! It was all Danny's idea!" Tucker shouted. Daniel looked at Tucker in disbelief.

"Something weird is going on with Sam and it has you two written all over it," Valerie explained as she turned on the water in the kitchen sink. Sam then put her arm under the running water.

Valerie grabbed Daniel and Tucker by the shirt collar. "Take a good look at Sam's arm. Tell me what you see!" she ordered.

Both boys looked at Sam's arm and saw black spots appear on her forearm. Tucker silently gasped while Daniel face lost all its color. The mermen knew what that was and what it meant. Now Sam wanted answers but Daniel didn't know how to explain this without turning it into a scene from a soap opera. Daniel did the only thing he could do when backed into a corner.

He ran out of the apartment.

~0~0~0~

Dick watched Daniel run out of the shop. He knew the boy saw what Sam was going through and he didn't know how to explain it to her without the drama. Dick had known Daniel long enough to know that he wasn't good with words. He wasn't good at explaining things either. The boy tended to run away a lot whenever he was in a situation like this.

A punch was heard from upstairs followed by a cry of pain from Tucker.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO MY BEST FRIEND?" Valerie screeched.

"I DON'T KNOW! I SWEAR I DON'T KNOW!" Tucker wailed.

Dick sighed and decided to save Tucker from a trip to the emergency room…and the dentist.

He went upstairs and Valerie was holding Tucker by the shirt collar and Tucker's glasses were on the floor and his nose was bleeding. Sam was sitting at the kitchen table, her face void of any emotions.

Valerie was about to break Tucker's nose when she noticed that Dick was in the kitchen. She dropped Tucker and approached the Master of Time.

"Mr. Tock, mind telling me what the hell is going on with Sam?" Valerie demanded.

"I will tell you all if you stop assaulting my tenant," Dick answered. "Those blood stains on my floor are coming out of your rent by the way, Tucker."

"Aw, man," Tucker moaned.

"Mind telling me why Sam has fish scales on her arms and legs?" asked Valerie.

"Why did Danny leave?" Sam asked. "Was he going to tell me that I was slowly turning into a fish?"

"Merfolk find that very offensive," Tucker croaked from the floor.

"Calm down, all of you," said Dick. "I won't lie to you. Yes, Samantha is slowly turning into a mermaid."

The three college students gasped. Sam paled; her violet eyes were slowly filling with tears of fright.

Dick continued. "I'm sure you all know that Daniel is slow when it comes to these kinds of things. It's pretty ironic since he's a merman."

"You're damn right it is," Valerie grumbled. Dick held up a hand to silence her.

"I'm sure you're also aware that Daniel is also a clueless nitwit," Dick pressed on. "He had no idea – repeat, no idea – that this would happen to Samantha. The pearl around her neck is doing this to her." Sam hastily took her necklace off. "Taking it off won't work. The damage is done."

"Is there anyway to stop this?" asked Sam.

"There is one way but the consequences would be deadly, especially for Daniel," Dick explained grimly.

"Deadly how?" asked Valerie.

"Samantha would have to break up with Daniel," Dick explained. "It would break his heart, but it would stop Sam from transforming into a mermaid."

Valerie shrugged. "I don't see what makes it so deadly."

"Heartbreak is deadly for us merfolk," Tucker explained. "If a mermaid were to break a merman's heart, it would literally kill him. He would lose the will to live. That's why when merfolk become mates, they're usually mates for life."

Valerie and Sam stared at Tucker in disbelief. If Danny were to die of heartbreak because Sam broke up with him then that would have meant…

"Danny chose Sam to be his mate?!" Valerie screamed.

"His WHAT?!" Sam shouted.

Dick scowled at Tucker. "Way to add fuel to the fire," he told the Cecaelia.

"I can't be Danny's mate!" Sam exclaimed. "We've only been going out for a few months. I'm not ready to make that kind of commitment."

"That's for sure. Your parents would have a cow," said Dick.

That got Sam's attention. "Oh God! What am I going to tell my parents?" she asked.

"Nothing for the time being," Dick answered. "We need to sort this out first."

"What are we going to do about Sam?" asked Valerie.

"It's up to her," said Dick. "She has to make this decision on her own."

Sam looked at her pearl. She remembered when Danny gave it to her to wear as a necklace.

"I… I don't know," she said. "I don't know what I'll do. How long till the transformation is done?"

"You'll be getting more fish-like characteristics over the next few months," Dick answered. "The last part of the transformation would be when you acquire a tail." He wasn't going to add that the transformation would be complete the moment she and Danny exchanged vows at the altar…if she were to agree to that.

"Why didn't he tell me?" Sam asked aloud.

"Because he's a clueless nincompoop. He had no idea that this would happen. This was completely unintentional," Dick explained to her calmly.

"Was Sam originally going to be Danny's mate?" asked Valerie.

"He intended to," Dick answered. "However, he knew that it wouldn't be as easy as it is in our world."

"Why me?" Sam asked.

Dick turned in Sam's direction. "You've been nothing but kind to him. You rescued him when you were children, sparking his fascination with you. He wanted to know more about you but our laws forbade him from going back to the surface. Thanks to a loophole his sister learned about he was finally able to return in the hopes that he would find you again.

"Once he did that he wanted to start out as friends and go from there. When he finally revealed his true identity to you and you accepted that, he found that opening up to you was easier for him. Whenever you stood up for him, his feelings for you intensified up to the point where he stood up to his parents to defend you. Now that you're going through this transformation Daniel is taking your reaction as a possible rejection. He's afraid that everything you two have been through would be for nothing. He loves you, Samantha."

Sam stared wide-eyed at Dick. She loved Danny but…did she love him enough to change into a mermaid for him?

* * *

**That's a big question! What do you think?**

**Why did Danny run out like that? We've seen on TV that he's not the best when it comes to talking to girls (except Jazz and Sam). He just winds up babbling like an idiot. But that's why we love him! **

**Stay tuned for more!**


	31. Heartache

**Happy Valentine's Day! To celebrate, I'm uploading a fluffy chapter for you all as my Valentine to you all!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 31**

**Heartache**

Daniel ran to the beach cave. He was in shock and disbelief. How could this be? How could he not know that the pearl he gave Sam was slowly changing her into a mermaid? As far as he knew, no human had ever changed into a mermaid. There might have been some several centuries ago but he wasn't sure.

The way Sam and Valerie were acting was evidence enough that Sam was not happy that Daniel kept this a secret. The problem was that he didn't keep it a secret because he didn't know the pearl would do this to her.

Daniel wanted Sam as his mate more than anything in the world. But could he really force her to give up her life on the surface? No, he could never do that to her. Sam had family and friends here. He could never take her away from them.

Daniel gasped and his hand gripped his chest. Heartburn, a common symptom of heartache for merfolk. He knew where that came from. His heart yearned for Sam but he knew that she was probably more than angry with him for what was happening to her. He wouldn't be surprised if Sam never wanted to speak to him again. Daniel crumbled onto a rock and stared out into the ocean. For the first time in a long time, he didn't know whom to turn to for guidance.

~0~0~0~

Sam walked down the street deep in thought. Danny chose her to be his mate. It all made sense now. _'That's why he always said that he chose me. He had chosen me to be his mate but… Do I really want to be his mate?'_

Sam loved Danny; she knew that but was she willing to give up everything she knew to be with him? What about her family? True, they drove her up the wall all the time but Sam still loved them. What about her grandma? How would she take the news? And Valerie? She was her best friend. If Sam left, Valerie would never see her again. Besides, what if Danny's family didn't like her even if she was a mermaid? Where would that leave her?

"I don't know what to do," Sam moaned to herself. Tears began pouring from her eyes. She had never been faced with something like this before. She soon found herself on the beach. She had a feeling that Daniel was at the cave but right now she didn't feel like confronting him about this yet. She still had to sort through her own thoughts.

She walked down to the shoreline. She looked at the sun slowly setting into the horizon as the water splashed at her feet. Sam crumbled into the sand, tears flowing down her cheeks. What would she do?

A mechanical claw suddenly jumped out of the water and grabbed Sam in the abdomen, making her scream in surprise. Sam tried to pull it off but the thing had a firm grip on her. It started to pull her into the water. She tried to resist but the claw was too strong for her. She was eventually pulled under the water. Sam instinctively held her breath. She grabbed for her pearl only to find that it wasn't around her neck. _'Crap! I left it on the kitchen table at the clock shop!'_

Sam soon found herself face to face with what looked like a robotic merman. The claw was coming from his chest, she discovered.

"So, this is the one I'm supposed to capture," the robot said. If Sam could come up with a witty remark she would have.

Sam's lungs became starved for oxygen. It was only a matter of time before she ran out of air and drowned. _'To think that it would all end like this! I never even got to tell Danny I love him! I'm sorry, Danny!'_ Sam couldn't hold it in anymore. The air she held in her mouth escaped and she knew it was the end. She suddenly left a painful sensation on her neck, like someone was slitting her neck. Water was felt passing through her neck.

"What is this? How is this possible?" the robot asked in surprise. "Humans don't have gills!"

_'Gills?'_ Sam opened her eyes and realized that she could still breathe. She felt four slits on her neck, two on each side. Fear gripped her. She was changing faster than she thought. Her mind fell to pieces.

"My employer will find this most intriguing," said the robot.

"How about you ask your employer for a raise?" a familiar voice asked. A blast of energy hit the robot and released Sam. Danny swam in front of Sam.

"I won't let you hurt her, Skulker," Danny declared.

"How did you know she was here?" the robot called Skulker asked.

"I heard her screaming as you were dragging her into the ocean," Danny replied. He staggered a little and gripped his chest. Sam thought that odd.

Skulker also noticed and grinned. "Having troubles with the matters of the heart, Phantom?" he asked tauntingly.

Danny flashed his eyes at Skulker. "None of your business," he hissed. A laser cannon appeared from Skulker's shoulder and fired a laser at Danny.

"Danny!" Sam called out.

Skulker then fired a net at the merman. "I was going to capture the girl but maybe my employer would like you better," he said. Danny looked up at Skulker and then at Sam. When he noticed the gills on her neck he was shocked at first but then he lowered his head in shame and defeat.

"Do whatever you want, Skulker," Danny said miserably.

Sam gawked at him. It wasn't like Danny to give up that easily. He would usually put up more of a fight. For him to admit defeat just like that meant that something was off. She then remembered what Tucker said about merfolk suffering from heartbreak.

_'No! Danny can't give up just like that! He's the Phantom for Pete's sake!'_

"Let him go!" Sam ordered.

Skulker turned around and faced Sam. "Release the Phantom? You're joking," he laughed.

Sam swam up to Skulker and tried punching him. All she got was a bruised fist. "He's harder than I thought," she muttered to herself. Skulker swatted her away like she was a common housefly.

"I was going to take the Phantom in instead of you but now I'm tempted to take both of you," Skulker threatened.

"You're not taking either of us anywhere," Sam declared.

Skulker grinned. "Do you really care about the Phantom? No one has ever cared about the Phantom since the first one centuries ago."

Sam looked at Danny in Skulker's net. His fin-ears drooped, his glowing green eyes had dimmed, and little bubbles were coming out of his eyes, which Sam took to be tears. This was exactly why he didn't tell her in the first place. He was afraid of telling her that he unknowingly chose her to be his mate when they were children. How could he bring himself to tell her something like that? Sam knew that she would do the same thing if she were in his shoes or fins or whatever.

"I do care about him," Sam declared. Danny's ears perked up at this but he refused to raise his head. "He's a clueless idiot who has been left in the dark about his own culture because of his breed. I was stupid for jumping to conclusions before hearing his side of the story. If I had known that he was oblivious to the laws of his own people we wouldn't be here right now."

Skulker snorted. "Obviously there are lots of other things he hasn't told you yet. Are you still willing to stand by him then?" he asked skeptically.

Sam stared at Skulker straight in the eye. "The Phantom has been alone for centuries. It's time for that loneliness to end," she said with every amount of determination within her being.

Danny lifted his head. "Sam, do you…really mean that?"

Sam looked at him with her violet eyes. "I'm not ready to be your mate," she said, "but I do know that one day I might be. If I had my pearl with me I would swear on it."

Skulker laughed. "You're willing to be the Phantom's mate just so he won't be so lonely? What a joke!"

Sam swam up to Skulker and kicked him in the head. It hurt her foot but it did make a dent in his helmet thanks to her combat boot. Skulker retaliated by grabbing her by the neck.

"You're becoming a nuisance," he told the Goth. He aimed a weapon at her head and prepared to fire.

"NOOOOOO!"

A burst of green energy disintegrated the net holding Danny captive. When the light cleared, Danny was free from the net but something was off. His hair had broken free from its ponytail. His eyes were glowing so bright that his pupils were not visible. His teeth became like a shark's.

"You will not harm her!" Danny growled.

Sam gasped at this. He almost looked like the monster he changed into in that dream she had over Christmas Break. The only things that didn't change were that Danny didn't have claws and he still had his tail. _'No! He can't! He promised nothing bad would happen to us!'_

Danny fired an energy blast at Skulker, making him let go of Sam. Danny swam in front of her in a protective manner. Skulker shook his head and stared at Danny in disbelief.

"I know when I'm outmatched," Skulker said in terror. He looked at Sam. "I'm not going to hunt him with _you_ around! I'm outta here! If I stay any longer he'll become like Dark Phantom, the one before him."

Danny fired another energy blast that Skulker barely dodged. The robot swam off as fast as he could. Danny started to swim after him.

Sam stopped him. "Danny! It's okay. He won't hurt us anymore," she assured him.

The Phantom blinked several times before returning to his normal state. His eyes dimmed down until his pupils were once again visible. His teeth slowly returned to normal.

"Huh? Wha…?" he stuttered in confusion. He looked around him. "What happened? Why is my hair out of its ponytail?"

"Danny?"

Danny turned around and saw Sam floating behind him. "Sam?" He saw gills on her neck and remembered everything from before. "Oh, Poseidon! Sam, I'm…I'm so sorry," he stuttered.

"Danny, why is this happening to me?" Sam demanded. "Why did you pick me of all people?"

Danny hid his face behind his bangs. "You're the only one who doesn't care if I'm the Phantom or not. You became my friend because you _wanted_ to be my friend. No one has ever wanted that from me."

In a way it was true. Yes, Tucker and Danny became friends when they met in preschool but that was because they realized that they made a great team together (two crying kids are a lot louder than one). Sam _wanted_ to be friends with Danny because she liked the fact that he was different.

"But why didn't you tell me that you wanted me to be your mate?" asked Sam.

Danny clenched his fists. "I wanted to wait," he said. "I knew that humans took their relationships more slowly than merfolk. But I was also afraid that if you knew the truth…"

Sam put her finger on Danny's mouth. "You were afraid that you'd be rejected," she finished. "I understand that. Clockwork explained everything to me."

"He did?" Danny asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't mad." Danny's ears drooped. "But after thinking it over, I know that you had your reasons for not telling me."

"I understand if you hate me now," Danny said shamefully.

Sam shook her head no. "You're forgetting, Danny. I'm not like other girls. I like to hear both sides of the story before making a verdict. Usually girls dump their boyfriends when they find out they've been lied to. In this case, you had a good reason for not telling me the truth. I'll forgive you this time, if you promise to never lie to me ever again."

Danny smiled gratefully at Sam. "I'll never lie to you ever again," he vowed. "I'll be honest with you though. There are still a lot of things I'm still in the dark about."

Sam gave him a half-smile. "I guess we'll learn together," she said.

A hopeful glint appeared in his eyes. "Does that mean…" he started.

Sam put up a hand to stop him. "That doesn't mean that I want to be your mate right off the bat. I know in my heart that I want to be with you but I'm not ready to take that step yet. I want to finish college first," she explained.

The hopeful glint brightened. "So, you're not going to break up with me?" he asked hopefully.

Sam flicked Danny's nose. "Of course not, you clueless idiot!" she exclaimed jokingly.

Danny tackled Sam into a tight hug. "Thank you so much! You have no idea how happy you've made me!" he exclaimed happily.

Sam suddenly frowned. "To tell you the truth, Danny, I'm actually scared," she admitted. This was hard to admit even for a Goth.

Danny got up and looked at her. "Scared of what? You're never scared of anything," he pointed out.

Sam's eyes flooded with tears. "I'm scared of what I'm going to go through," she said.

Danny then understood what she meant. "You're afraid of the transformation you're going through," he assumed.

Sam only nodded. "Clockwork said that it would be slow but I've already gotten gills. How much longer till I get a tail?" she asked, her voice very close to hysteria.

Danny thought about it for a moment. "Perhaps it was your body's doing. When Skulker pulled you under, your body needed to breathe. With what you're going through it only makes sense that your body grew gills next. Hopefully it will slow down for now. Of course, this is all just a guess on my part."

Sam nodded again. A few tears leaked out of her eyes. She prayed to God that her transformation would slow down soon. As much as she wanted to be with Danny, she was terrified of the months to come.

"Hey, it will be alright," Danny assured her. "I'll help you get through this every step of the way." He hugged her from behind. "Just remember, 'regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all. Nothing's like before," he quoted in a whisper into Sam's ear.

Sam smiled and turned around to face her boyfriend. She then gave him a passionate kiss. _'I love you, Danny.'_

* * *

**I put a little bit of myself in Sam in this chapter. I tend to be more understanding than most girls.  
**

**Yay! Another chapter under my belt! More to come soon!**


	32. Vlad's Plan

**Ugh! This was not easy to write! I gotta take it easy so I can restock on ideas. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 32**

**Vlad's Plan**

As the next few weeks went by Sam slowly learned the pros and cons of her slow transformation. For starters, her days at the neighborhood pool were over. She wasn't completely immune to the cold temperatures yet, as she learned after she and Danny returned to the surface after Danny's second encounter with Skulker (the robot managed to get a Cecaelia to get him back to the Pacific). Sam had to carry a bottle of hand sanitizer to use after using the bathroom since washing her hands was no longer an option.

On the other hand, her transformation seemed to have slowed down. Other than the gills, only spots were appearing on her arms and legs. Luckily they weren't noticeable. Not to mention she could go swimming with Danny without worrying about drowning.

With midterms now out of the way, Sam and Valerie decided to go hang out at the pier and spend some girl time together. Daniel and Tucker went to the arcade and spent their paychecks on video games.

"Can we _please_ go to Hot Topic now?" Sam begged as Valerie browsed the pajamas at Victoria's Secret. "If I have to spend another minute in this store, I'm going to lose it!"

Valerie laughed. "I don't understand what you have against this place," she said.

"Other than it's technically a lingerie store that's covered with posters of Paulina lookalikes who do not cover their shame, everything!" Sam answered.

"They have good sales though," Valerie muttered.

~0~0~0~

Contrary to what Sam and Valerie said, Clockwork told Daniel and Tucker to spend their money on something more useful than a machine that asked for another quarter every time a level was cleared. So the boys went to GameStop to buy the newest version of Doomed followed by a trip to Barnes & Noble to buy the game guide. Not what Clockwork had in mind but if got them out of the apartment, he didn't care.

"Exactly why we're at the drugstore?" asked Daniel.

"No reason," Tucker said innocently. He was looking for a specific magazine.

Daniel then realized what his friend was looking for. "The swimsuit issue of _Sports Illustrated_ is not out yet," he flatly told him.

"Come on, Danny. We've been here for six months and I want to see these 'swimsuit issues' the guys on campus are always talking about," said Tucker.

"You have a girlfriend," Daniel reasoned.

"So? Lots of guys still get them even if they have girlfriends," Tucker reasoned back.

Daniel just rolled his eyes.

~0~0~0~

Vlad's telephone rang.

"Hello?"

"Is this Vladimir Masters?" asked a sophisticated voice.

"Speaking," Vlad replied.

"This is Operative O of the Guys in White. You sent us an e-mail regarding the existence of mermaids?"

Vlad sat up straight. "It's about time you responded," he answered.

"Our apologies. We were in Wyoming following a lead regarding Bigfoot," O explained.

"Let me guess. You turned up with nothing," Vlad assumed. A long moment of silence answered Vlad's question. "Anyway, I take it you viewed the footage attached to the email?"

"Affirmative," confirmed O. "What I don't understand is why a human girl is swimming amongst them."

"That is the daughter of an old college friend of mine," Vlad explained. "I got a DNA sample from her hair brush and after analyzing it, I fear that a merman is slowly turning her into one of them."

"A merman turning a human girl into a mermaid?" O asked for clarity.

"I'm afraid so," Vlad confirmed, acting like he was concerned for Samantha's well being. "If anything were to happen to that girl, her parents would be devastated."

"Could you send your findings to us to confirm your story?" asked O. "It's standard procedure."

"Of course," Vlad replied. "It's probably for the best too. I've been keeping tabs on the merman responsible for the girl's transformation and I'm afraid he's been appearing less frequently, probably due to the weather. If it's possible, perhaps you could come to California in the spring when it's warmer."

"That can be arranged," said O. "In the meantime, I ask that you continue to keep an eye on the girl so we can figure out a way to reverse the transformation. That goes double for the merman. If we can capture a live specimen, it would very beneficial to us and to you."

Vlad smiled evilly. "Deal."

~0~0~0~

Sam bought three new t-shirts, a hoodie sweatshirt and a new pair of bondage pants from Hot Topic. This was exactly what she needed, time with her best friend and a little shopping at the pier. Nothing could possibly ruin –

Sam bumped into someone who made her good mood jump off the docks.

"Do you have a problem with your eyes or something?" Paulina asked irritably.

Both Sam and Valerie inwardly groaned. So much for their good day.

"No. You're probably wear so much mascara, it's obstructing your vision," Sam explained sarcastically.

Paulina then eyed something on Sam that looked valuable. "I can see that fancy pendant you're wearing. Where did you get it? Tiffany's? Kay Jeweler's?" she asked.

Sam instinctively put her hand on her pearl. "You mean this? For your information, Paulina, it's a gift. Danny gave it to me," she said matter-of-factly.

"He gave you that thing?" Paulina asked skeptically. "I thought Goth freaks didn't wear pearls."

"They don't," Valerie answered, "but Sam's making an exception with this one."

"Without those ugly bat wings on that, it would look much better on me than on you," said Paulina. "It would look much better with fairy wings."

"My pearl, my rules," Sam said bluntly.

"Not anymore," Paulina replied. She tried to yank the pearl off of Sam's neck but couldn't break the chain. "What the hell? Why won't it break?"

Sam recovered from the force of the pull and answered, "Unlike the expensive jewelry you see at all those jewelry stores, this was made from discarded clock parts."

Paulina pulled harder until the pearl broke off from the chain.

"Got it!" she said triumphantly.

Sam tried to get the gem back but Paulina held it out of the Goth's reach. "Give it back, Paulina!" Sam yelled.

"Paulina, if you know what's good for you, you'd give the pearl back to Sam," Valerie insisted, afraid of what the gem would do to the Latina.

"Pearls look better on me. Why should I give this one back?" asked Paulina.

Sam stomped on her foot. Paulina screamed in pain, causing her to drop the gem. It bounced on the wood of the pier. Valerie, Sam, and Paulina chased after it but it fell into the water.

"NO!" Sam yelled.

"Damn it," Valerie growled.

"Now look what you made me do!" Paulina accused. "If you just let me keep the pearl in the first place, none of this would have happened."

"If you didn't try to literally steal it from under my nose, none of this would have happened!" Sam corrected. She took off her boots and her socks and handed her shopping bags and purse to Valerie. She then stepped up onto the railing.

"Sam, have you gone bonkers?" Valerie asked in alarm. "It's the middle of February! You're going to get hypothermia if you go in that water!"

"I don't care," Sam replied. "That pearl is important to me and I am not going to lose it because the water is a little cold!" She jumped into the water and landed with a splash.

"Not only is she a freak, she's crazy too," Paulina stated as she walked away.

Valerie pulled out her cell phone and texted Danny and Tucker about what just happened.

"Crazy, yes. Freak, no," Valerie muttered.

~0~0~0~

"Check out this girl," said Tucker. He was looking through a tabloid magazine while Danny was looking at a TV Guide. "Who is Kim Kardashian?"

"Some girl whose father was a lawyer," Daniel replied nonchalantly. "She has her own TV show that no one watches."

Tucker shrugged and continued looking through the magazine. A familiar musical tone on Daniel's cell phone went off, announcing that he got a text message. Daniel checked his phone and paled at the message: _**Paulina struck and Sam is in water! Do something!**_

"Tuck, we have to go," Daniel said urgently.

"You go on ahead. I'll catch up," Tucker said, still fixated on the magazine.

"COME ON!" Daniel grabbed Tucker, causing him to drop the magazine, and they both left the store.

~0~0~0~

Sam swam deeper and deeper into the water, desperately trying to get her pearl back. She felt her gills come out the moment she hit the water. The green glow of the gem was her guide.

Without warning, a great white shark started swimming towards her. Panic filled Sam's senses and she started swimming a little faster but so did the shark.

~0~0~0~

"Valerie!" both boys cried as they finally made it to the pier.

"About time you two showed up," said Valerie. "Paulina tried to steal Sam's weird pearl and it fell into the water. So Sam jumped in after it."

"WHAT?!" Tucker and Daniel yelled.

"She hasn't surfaced yet," said Valerie. "I know she has gills now but she's not completely immune to cold temperatures. She'll turn into a popsicle if you don't do something."

Daniel jumped over the railing and dove into the water.

* * *

**It's a little short but hey, it's better than nothing, right? **


	33. Meetings

**I've added a twist in the beginning of this chapter. You'll see! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 33**

**Meetings**

Sam thought for sure she was a goner. Just as the shark was about to take a bite out of her a blast of energy hit it in the back. The shark turned and saw that the Phantom quickly approaching them. Phantom then punched the shark in the snout causing it to whimper…like a dog.

Phantom tackled the shark to the ocean floor. "No!" he said sternly. "Humans are friends, NOT FOOD!"

Phantom then tickled the shark under what was supposed to be its chin. The shark then relaxed and wagged its tail. If Sam didn't know any better, she could have sworn that this shark was acting like a dog!

"D-Danny?" Sam stuttered. "This is going to sound like a stupid question but what is up with that shark?"

Danny looked up at Sam and then back at the shark. "Remember at the aquarium when I said that where I come from sharks are known as dogfish?" he asked.

"Yeah, I looked into that and dogfish are actually really small sharks," Sam answered. "That's a great white."

"To merfolk, some sharks are our version of dogs," Danny explained. "I've always wanted one but my parents said no."

"And the great white is one of the domesticated breeds?" Sam guessed skeptically.

"Sometimes. They're really hard to train," Danny replied. "Although this one seems to already be trained." The shark tried to lunge at Sam again but Danny held him back. "No! Bad shark!" He bopped the shark's snout again causing him to whimper.

"I think I'll call him Cujo," said Danny. "He goes from friendly to deadly at the flick of a switch."

"You're keeping him?" Sam asked exasperatedly.

Danny shrugged. "Sure, why not? Anyway, what are you doing in the water? You're going to get sick if you stay here any longer."

"Paulina happened and my pearl fell into the water," Sam explained, "and thanks to Cujo here I've lost track of it."

"Maybe not," said Danny. "Sharks use their sense of smell to find things."

Sam realized where this was going. "Oh no! I'm not going near that shark just so he can follow my scent."

"Got any better ideas?"

Sam groaned and approached Cujo apprehensively. "Just make sure he doesn't take a bit out of me."

Cujo got closer to Sam and smelled her (Danny was holding onto the shark's dorsal fin to make sure he behaved). He then started smelling the ocean floor. He then made a sound that sounded like a howl and swam deeper into the ocean. Danny followed but Sam was having difficulty keeping up.

Something strange then started to happen. It felt like something was joining her fingers and toes together. Sam looked at her hands and saw that her hands were now webbed.

"D-D-Danny!" she screamed. Danny and Cujo hit the breaks and turned to see what was wrong.

"Sam? What's wrong?" he asked. He swam over to her in concern. Sam just held her hands out to him. Danny saw and understood what was freaking her out. "This is a new development."

"H-How… What?" she stuttered.

Danny stroked her cheek reassuringly. "It's okay," he assured. "Our hands are webbed so we can swim faster. This is perfectly normal for us." He kissed her hand. "You're coming along beautifully. I'm looking forward to what you'll finally look like when it's over."

Sam had to turn away because she was blushing so much. Danny chuckled at her reaction. He grabbed her hand and the two swam off to catch up with Cujo. The shark smelled something in a hole on top of a large rock. A small green light was coming from it.

Danny grabbed a minnow that was swimming by and gave it to Cujo. "Good boy," he praised.

Sam reached into the hole and pulled out a glowing green pearl with bat wings. "I got it," she said.

Danny swam up to her. "Great," he said. He held out his hand. "May I?" Sam gave the pearl to Danny. It turned purple the moment it landed in his hand. He then carefully attached the pearl back onto the necklace around Sam's neck.

Sam gave Danny a peck on the cheek. "Thank you, Danny," she said gratefully.

The Phantom turned bright red and the two of them swam towards the surface.

"Uh, is Cujo going to follow us?" Sam asked apprehensively.

Danny turned and saw that Cujo was swimming behind them. "Great, how are we going to get back without him following us?" he groaned. If a shark were to follow them back to the surface mayhem would sure follow.

"Danny?"

The three turned and saw a mermaid swimming towards them. She had a sky blue tail with matching fins on her head and arms. A matching blue headband was in her long red hair.

Danny recognized her. "Jazz? What are you doing here? I thought you were back at school."

Jazz gave her brother a blank look. "Nice to see you too, little brother," she said dryly. "There were some human sightings near our campus so we were ordered to go home."

"Jazz is a student at Exodus College in the Red Sea," Danny explained to Sam. "She's already working on her Master's degree."

Jazz noticed Sam floating next to Danny and became alarmed. "Danny…who is this? And why is she with you?" she asked nervously.

"Jazz, this is my girlfriend I was telling you about, Sam Manson. Sam, this is my older sister, Jazz," Danny introduced.

Sam swam up to Jazz and held out her hand. "Uh…how do you do?" she greeted anxiously.

Jazz hesitated and shook Sam's hand. The Goth noticed that Jazz's hand also felt slimy like Danny's, although she was used to his hands.

"So you're Sam, huh? Danny talks about you all the time," said Jazz.

Danny turned a faint shade of pink at that. "Jazz," he groaned, "you're embarrassing me!"

Jazz gave her brother a smirk. "Sorry, little brother. It's the big sister's job to embarrass her younger siblings."

"Glad I'm an only child," Sam mumbled under her breath.

"So, what brings you here?" asked Jazz.

"Sam dropped her pearl and made the mistake of jumping in after it," Danny explained, ignoring the scowl coming from his girlfriend.

Jazz eyed the gem, now glowing green, around Sam's neck. "Well, you better get her back to the surface now before she gets hypothermia," she said.

"Before you leave, Jazz, could you take Cujo home with you?" Danny asked.

Jazz looked at him quizzically. "Who is Cujo?" she asked. A great white shark came forward and looked at Jazz, his tailfin wagging like a dog's. "Do Mom and Dad know about him?"

"No. I just found him a few minutes ago," Danny replied.

Jazz rolled her eyes. "I'll take him with me but I can't guarantee that we can keep him."

"Good. Now if you excuse me, I have to get Sam back to the surface," Danny said, taking his girlfriend's hand.

"Nice meeting you, Jazz," said Sam.

"Same here," Jazz said with a nervous smile. The two then swam toward the surface.

~0~0~0~

Valerie and Tucker managed to get their friends back to the clock shop to warm up and dry off. Daniel just used a dry spell on himself but Sam insisted on taking a shower. Dick served them hot chocolate after Sam was done in the bathroom.

"You're not completely immune to cold waters, Samantha," Dick informed her. "Until your transformation is complete, you can easily catch hypothermia. You're lucky Tucker used a heating spell on you before things got ugly."

"Didn't Danny need a heating spell?" asked Sam.

"He's immune to the cold when he is not in his human disguise," Dick explained.

Sam nodded and went into Danny and Tucker's room. Daniel was in his room working on homework for one of his classes.

She knocked on the open door to get his attention. He looked up from his computer. He didn't look happy.

"How're you feeling?" he asked.

"Much better, thanks," she replied.

"That's good to hear," he said nonchalantly.

Sam got wind of the negative vibes coming off of him. "Everything okay?" she asked in concern.

Daniel sighed and shut his laptop and faced her. "That was a pretty stupid thing you did at the pier," he stated.

Sam lowered her head. "I know. I'm sorry," she mumbled.

Daniel folded his arms. "What the heck were you thinking? You could have died in that water," he scolded.

Sam readily frowned and released a huff. "Excuse me for trying to save one of my most precious treasures," she huffed.

"You could have texted me or at least called!" Daniel exclaimed.

"There was no time to think," said Sam.

"Why didn't you listen to Valerie?"

"I had to get it back before the current swept it away," Sam argued.

"I could have easily gotten it back for you!" Daniel exclaimed. "You shouldn't risk your health over something like this."

"Oh, like how you risk your _life_ to protect mine?" Sam retorted.

"I can't risk losing you!" Daniel yelled. Sam paused at that. Daniel was mad at her because he was worried about her.

Sam lowered her head again. "I'm sorry I scared you," she mumbled. "I…I shouldn't have scared you like that."

Daniel's face softened. He came over and embraced her. "I'm sorry I snapped at you like that. Just promise me you'll never scare me like that again," he said.

Sam smiled at him. "I promise," she said and kissed him as a sign of forgiveness. Daniel felt his instincts act up and tried his best to fight it.

Sam parted the kiss when she noticed Daniel's discomfort. "You okay?" she asked in concern.

Daniel looked at her; his blue eyes were replaced with his glowing green ones. "I'll…be fine," he panted.

Sam gave him a skeptical look. "Save it, tough guy. Your instincts are acting up again," she accused. Daniel turned his head away so Sam wouldn't see him blush. "It's okay. It happens."

"It hasn't happened in awhile though," said Daniel.

Sam stroked his hair. "It's alright. We'll just do what we've done in the past, okay? This is nothing to be ashamed of," she assured him.

"But…what if…" he started but was stopped when Sam put a finger on his mouth.

"This is something that you have to do. I don't hate you for having these urges," Sam assured him. She actually liked it when this happened, not that she would admit it of course. She secretly wished the warmer months would come sooner. She missed having his scaly black tail around her legs for some reason and she didn't know why.

Daniel then sat her down on his bed and began nuzzling her. He began kissing along her jawbone, moving up toward her ear where he licked behind it. Sam let out a squeak at this. She was unaware that her gills came out.

Daniel, however, did notice. "Finally," he moaned. "I've waited so long." He moved down to Sam's neck and began licking and kissing her gills. The affect was instantaneous. Sam let out a groan as she left his tongue run along the edges of her gills. Daniel nibbled on the edges of her gills, making Sam moan in pleasure.

A knock on the door snapped both lovebirds out of their stupor. "You two better not be doing anything rash," Tucker's voice called out from the other side of the door.

"Beat it, Tuck!" Daniel barked.

Tucker opened the door and saw the two of them sitting on Daniel's bed in each other's arms.

"Aw, man! I was hoping for something more R-rated," Tucker groaned.

Daniel and Sam scowled at Tucker for interrupting them.

"May I turn him into calamari?" asked Sam.

"Please," Daniel replied.

Sam chased Tucker all over the apartment. Valerie had to drag Sam back to campus before she actually killed the Cecaelia. Tucker was lucky he only got a bloody nose and broken glasses.

* * *

**I wanted to add Cujo because...well...you gotta admit he's pretty cute when he's not the size of a minivan! **

**Almost at 400 reviews! This has never happened to me! **


	34. Enter the Calvary

**Since the past few chapters have been a little short, I decided to make it as long as possible. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 34**

**Enter the Calvary**

"No way!" Valerie exclaimed when she and Sam returned to their dorm. "Sharks are their version of dogs? Seriously?"

"Seriously," Sam confirmed. "Apparently great whites can be tamed sometimes. I guess it depends if they're born in a domesticated home or not. This one seemed to be trained."

"So how come it tried to make a meal out of you?" asked Valerie.

"Maybe he was abandoned," Sam assumed. "No master means no leash. When Danny got him under control I guess Cujo considered Danny to be his new master."

"I wonder if Cujo can turn into a normal dog," Valerie jokingly said.

"That just makes me terrified of what that would be like," Sam muttered.

~0~0~0~

As February slowly melted into March, the weather began to get slightly warmer. It was still too cold for Sam to go swimming. Danny spent some time in his grotto taking care of Cujo (his parents said no to keeping him so Danny decided that the shark would be more useful if he guarded Danny's treasures).

"So now we have a guard shark for our grotto?" Tucker asked one day while he and Daniel were walking to campus.

Daniel gave him a smug grin. "Yep. It wasn't easy but I trained him to _not_ eat our stuff. The only thing he ate was that Hawaii license plate you found when we were twelve."

Tucker's jaw dropped. "He ate it?! Do you have any idea how rare it is to find a car with Hawaiian license plate in the continental U.S.? I'll tell you. EXTREMELY RARE!" he yelled.

"Well, you're not getting it back anytime soon," Daniel said. "Sharks are not just hunters, they're garbage disposals. They'll eat anything and I mean _anything_."

"Like in the movie _Jaws_?" asked Tucker. "That shark ate anything."

"The shark in that movie ate people," Daniel deadpanned.

Two white government vans drove past them. Daniel and Tucker watched them go down the street and around the corner.

"I've never seen those vans before," Tucker noted.

"What does GiW stand for?" asked Daniel.

Tucker pulled out his PDA. "I'll look it up," he said. After pressing a few buttons and searching the Internet, he came up with a match. As he read what he found, his confident face melted into one of fear.

"What does it say?" Daniel asked.

"Dude, I think we're in trouble," Tucker squeaked.

"What is it?" Daniel pressed.

"The GiW stands for Guys in White," Tucker explained. "They're with the Feds. They hunt for paranormal creatures, such as vampires, werewolves, and ghosts."

"Paranormal creatures?" Daniel repeated.

"In other words: us," Tucker squeaked in fright.

The boys looked at each other and watched the color drain from their faces. "SAM! VALERIE!" they both yelled as they ran towards campus.

~0~0~0~

Vlad met up with the Guys in White at City Hall. They didn't want to attract attention by setting up shop at the local police department. Operatives O and K were in charge of this case.

"I'm glad you were able to come so soon," said Vlad.

"As with us," said K. "A lot of our specimens are dying in Area 41 so we really need to get something out of this."

Vlad raised an eyebrow. "Area 41? I thought it was Area 51."

K looked at O. "We've said too much already," said O.

"If we don't get ourselves a half-human half-fish, the government is going to cut our funding," said K.

"Well, getting one is going to take time," said Vlad. "The weather is still cold so there hasn't been that many sightings. We should see more by April."

"Perfect," said O. "That will give us plenty of time for us to do some recon. Where have seen the creature the most?"

"I've often seen him near a cave about three miles from the pier that's near Amity University. A lot of college students visit the shops there. I'm surprised no one has seen a mermaid before," Vlad replied.

K was writing this information down on a notepad as fast as he could.

"And the human girl," said O, "how long has she been going through this transformation?"

"There were faint traces of fish DNA in the hair I found on her hairbrush," said Vlad. "I retrieved it during the holidays. When I analyzed it after New Year's I discovered that the fish DNA is slowly merging with her human DNA. If I had to guess, I'd say she probably showed symptoms some time in the second or third week of January."

O stroked his chin in thought. "We still have time," he said. "The transformation won't be complete until she grows a tail. If the stories are true, the tail is the last thing to appear."

"Any idea when that will happen?" asked Vlad.

"That, we don't know," K answered.

Vlad nodded and moved on to the next subject. "What if an artifact was causing the girl's transformation?" he asked.

"According to the myths, they're what cause the transformations," said O. "As long as the artifact is in the girl's possession, the changes will progress."

"Why do you ask?" asked K.

Vlad gave them a clever smile. "What if I told you that the girl was wearing a pendant given to her by a merman?"

O and K gasped. "Then the pendant would be the source of her transformation!" O exclaimed.

"If we can get it away from her, the changes should stop," K assumed.

"That will be tricky," said Vlad. "I tried getting it away from her once and the necklace reacted and burned my hand."

O and K took a moment to think.

"Let's not focus on the girl now. If we can get the merman responsible for this, we can coerce him to reverse the changes in the girl," said O.

Vlad grinned evilly. "Sounds like a plan."

~0~0~0~

Sam was walking out of her mythology class when Tucker and Daniel were running toward her as fast as their weak legs could carry them.

"Sheesh, you two! Where's the fire?" asked Sam. "Danny, your Government class doesn't start for another fifteen minutes. And Tucker, your Biology class doesn't start for another half-hour."

"Sam, Tuck and I are in trouble," Daniel panted.

Sam's eyes widened in alarm. "Why? What's wrong? Did someone see you?" she asked. The boys knew what she was talking about.

Tucker shook his head. "No. The Feds are in town. I think they're here to find us."

Sam's eyes widened even further. "The Guys in White? Are you sure?"

"We saw big white vans drive by on our way here," Daniel explained. "GiW was painted on the sides."

Sam scowled. "This has Vlad written all over it," she snarled.

"Think he's planning to make a move?" asked Tucker.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Duh. He's using the government to do his dirty work."

A thought suddenly struck Daniel. "These GiW guys hunt for any supernatural creatures, right?"

"Yeah," Tucker and Sam answered, wondering where Daniel was going with this.

"Don't you think a hybrid created by science is more interesting?" he asked with a smug look on his face.

Sam caught on to what he was saying. "Ooooh… That does sound more interesting," she said slyly.

Tucker looked at both of them. "I don't follow where you guys are going with this," he said obliviously.

~0~0~0~

"So the Feds are in town because Vlad called them here?" Valerie asked for clarity later that evening.

"Yeah and now Danny and Tucker are so freaked out about it, they didn't even want to hang out after classes, not even to see the new Dead Teacher movie," said Sam as she came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.

Valerie got a good look at her friend's appearance. Sam's forearms were covered in black spots while her legs were dotted with royal purple spots. Both sides of her neck had two slits. Her hands and feet were now webbed.

"This is going to take some getting used to," Valerie stated. "When do you think fins are going to start sprouting?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. I'm still getting used to the fact that I'm slowly turning into a fish." She then gave Valerie a mischievous smirk. "I wonder what you would look like with four extra legs."

It took Valerie a moment to realize what Sam was talking about. "Sam! No! I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it," Val exclaimed.

"You're blushing," Sam sang.

"Nuh-uh! No way! Not going to happen," Valerie declared.

"But I thought you liked Tucker," Sam said playfully.

"I…I do…but…I," Valerie stuttered. She then threw a pillow at Sam. "Just get dressed so we can go to the dining hall!"

~0~0~0~

"So how are your changes?" Danny asked Sam in the cave one night. He had just come back from his grotto where Cujo was currently staying.

Sam shrugged. "They're alright. No major changes since we met your sister so I guess that they're slowing down."

"Are…are you still…scared?" Danny hesitantly asked.

Sam's chest tightened. It pained her to see Danny blame himself for something he unintentionally caused. Although she assured Danny that she was not mad at him, she couldn't help but think that he wasn't convinced.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm still a little scared," Sam answered honestly.

Danny cringed at her answer. How did he miss the fact that he was unknowingly turning her into a mermaid? Was it the pearl's doing? It had to be.

Danny hid his face behind his snow-white bangs. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Sam hugged him tightly. "It's going to be okay," she assured him.

"But I pretty much changed your life," said Danny.

Sam shrugged. "It can't be any better than what my mom has in store for me. She's always putting me together with some boy I've never met. I went to my high school prom with the son of the CEO of the Nasty Burger. He was not charming in the least."

Danny chuckled. "At least I don't have to worry about him being my rival," he laughed.

Sam giggled. "You have way more class than he did."

"What about that Elliot guy you're always talking about?" Danny asked curiously. "I know that he was pretending to be a Hungarian Goth but what was it that attracted you to him?"

"Besides the fact that he was Goth, he was also an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian. He claimed to share the same views I did but someone once spilled a milkshake on his pants and he yelled at the poor guy – in an American accent!" Sam told the merman. "That's when I learned the truth about him and I dumped him on the spot."

"What a blowhole!" Danny exclaimed.

Sam laughed. "Yes, he was."

Danny saw the ocean calling out to him and thought of an idea. "Wanna go for a swim?" he asked Sam. He held out his slimy webbed hand that was glowing with a warmth spell.

Sam smiled, she couldn't resist. "Sure, why not?" She took his hand and felt the warmth spell envelope her whole body, keeping her warm from the cold water. She carefully stepped into the water and landed in Danny's arms. Immediately, her gills came out and her hands and feet became webbed.

"You warm?" Danny asked to make sure the spell was working.

Sam nodded. She then climbed onto his back as he swam out to sea. She held onto his neck when he began to pick up speed. Eventually, Danny went under. Out of habit and instinct, Sam held her breath. She then had to remind herself that she could now breathe underwater and let it go.

What she saw captivated her. The moonlight shined down through the waters making it look like she was literally swimming through Aurora Borealis. Small schools of fish swam below them. A dolphin swam by and gave Sam a playful kiss on her side making her squirm before swimming away.

"I didn't know you were ticklish," Danny noted.

"That's because I wanted to keep that a secret from you," Sam replied. "Otherwise, you'll attack me and I might retaliate by accidentally kicking you."

Danny gave her a smile that was full of mischief. "I'm willing to take that risk," he said mischievously.

Sam stared at her boyfriend. "You wouldn't dare," she said playfully. He playfully tackled her and tickled her sides. "AAAAHHH! NO! STOP! HAHAHAHA!" Sam screamed in-between laughs.

"Never!" Danny answered, pretending to sound evil.

"Oh, yeah?" Sam managed to grab the end of his tail and wiggled her finger along the membrane of his tailfin.

"GAH! NO! NOT THERE!" Danny shrieked as he broke out in laughter. This was an interesting discovery. Sam had no idea Danny was ticklish in the tail. "HAHAHAHA! OKAY! OKAY! YOU WIN! UNCLE! UNCLE!"

Sam let him go. At this point both of them were lying in the sands of the ocean floor. They both calmed down and stared at the moon's image that was rippling through the water.

"This view is beautiful," said Sam.

Danny got up on his elbows. "I have to disagree. You're an even more beautiful to look at," he said.

Sam giggled. "Do you have any idea how cheesy that sounds?" she asked.

Danny gave her a sly grin. "It still worked, didn't it? I got you to smile."

"Well, I guess since you're not familiar with human pickup lines it's not a total waste," Sam replied with a shrug.

Danny got closer in Sam's face. "Te amo," he whispered. He then gently placed his lips on hers. Sam kissed him back, wondering what he just said and what it meant.

* * *

**'Te amo' means what? Take a wild guess!  
**

**Congratulations to guest reviewer Raina for being my 400th reviewer! I give you a pie!**


	35. Spring Break

**Who would have thought that 'te amo' meant 'I love you' in both Spanish AND Latin? Go figure.**

**Well, to commemorate the beginning of my Spring Break, I've uploaded a new chapter for you all!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 35**

**Spring Break**

Vlad wanted to get his hands on Sam's pearl so _he_ could transform into a full-fledged merman and be with Maddie. No, not wanted, _coveted_ the girl's pearl. All this time the girl had what he was looking for. But how did it work? The pearl obviously rejected Vlad's touch because Sam couldn't stand to be in the same area code as him. How did Samantha get a magical pearl on her hands in the first place? More importantly, why did Daniel give it to her in the first place? It's obvious that the boy chose Sam as his mate but how did the pearl play a part of this?

Vlad sighed and slowly walked into the waters of the Pacific Ocean until he was completely submerged. Vlad Plasmius then swam off to find and observe some local merfolk and see if they could fill in some blanks.

He didn't get far until he saw the USS Casper emerge from the gloom. It was a sight to behold. Even in the 21st Century, the mighty ship still held a majestic wonder to anyone who was willing to see it.

"Hey, Uncle Technus! I'm home!" a nasally voice cried out. Vlad hid behind a moss-covered boulder. He peeked out from behind to see a grey merman swimming towards the shipwreck with a bag of food in his arms. Vlad couldn't tell what kind of food was in that bag so he assumed that they were delicacies known only to merpeople. The grey merman had black hair styled in a bob-cut complete with thick-framed glasses, freckles, and buck teeth. He looked to be about Daniel's age.

"Excellent, my nephew!" another voice cried out. This one had a bit of Russian in his accent. "Now I, Technus, Master of All Technology of Both Land and Sea, shall begin my new invention!"

Another merman appeared from the ship. Instead of the traditional fish tail or octopus tentacles, this fellow had the tail of an electric eel. His skin was electric green and his white hair was styled as a mullet. Just looking at him reminded Vlad of those mad scientist inventers who were really backyard quacks. Yes, this was _"__iactatus __anguillam"_ or "bragging eel".

"Now go find something we can eat this off of, Sidney," said Technus. "That Johnny 13 boy stole that china you found last year and now we have no plates."

"Right, Uncle Technus," replied the grey boy called Sidney. He swam off.

Vlad decided to talk to the boy. "Excuse me, young man."

The boy stopped in his tracks. Vlad made sure his legs were hidden so he wouldn't alarm the boy.

"Can I help you, sir?" the boy asked.

"I'm looking for someone and I was wondering if you've seen him," said Plasmius. "I believe his breed is _Phantasma Nereiorum Formant_."

"You're looking for Phantom?" asked Sidney.

"Yes, I've heard about him and I've always wondered what a Phantom Merman looked like up close," Plasmius lied.

Sidney shrugged. "Eh, he's alright. He has this obsession with the surface world though. He and my friend Tucker are at a college on the surface. Not to mention Phantom also has a human girlfriend believe it or not."

Plasmius pretended to act intrigued. "You don't say?"

"Yeah, she's just as weird as Phantom. I saw her once. She looked pretty for a human. She was wearing a merman's pearl around her neck," Sidney continued. "If those two stay together, we'll be witnessing history in the making."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you know? The Phantom has never had a mate to call his own. For the first time ever, one finally does! He gave her a pearl and she accepted it. She'll be one of us the moment they exchange vows at their wedding," said Sidney.

Now it was coming together. The pearl must have been some sort of sign of engagement for merfolk. Samantha was engaged to Daniel and she didn't even know it!

Vlad rose out of his hiding place. "Thank you, young man. You've been most helpful," he said evilly. He then swam towards the surface.

If Sidney's grey skin could pale any more than usual it would. "Oh Poseidon! What have I done?" he squeaked.

~0~0~0~

"You want to do what this week?" Sam asked in surprise on her shell phone. Spring Break had officially begun and Danny and Tucker went back home for the week. Thankfully, the weather was finally getting warmer to the point where Sam didn't have to worry about getting hypothermia whenever she went swimming with Danny.

"I said, if…it's okay with you, I mean, maybe you can…spend a day or two…with…me?" he asked nervously.

Sam turned a little red too. "W-Well, I don't know, Danny. I mean…I didn't exactly leave a good first impression on your parents when I met them. Not to mention, your sister also seemed…standoffish when I met her," she explained nervously.

"Well, I understand if you don't want to go," Danny said. "I just…thought it might be something nice to do since you're always complaining about how every Spring Break is nothing but a week of boredom." Sam still wasn't sure but she was complaining to her friends a lot about the impending boredom that she would have to face every year. "Besides, maybe you can clear the water with my parents. If they see that you're the beautiful and kind yet cynical girl I know, maybe they'll change their minds about you."

Sam couldn't help but chuckle at being called cynical. Danny had known Sam long enough to know that earning her trust was almost a herculean task. He'd almost lost it on more than one occasion.

Sam thought long and hard about it. On the one hand, if she were to see Danny's family again and they saw what was happening to her maybe they would think differently about her. On the other hand, they might see her as a monstrosity due to her transformation and still reject her. Still, if Sam were to become Danny's mate someday, she had to make things right with his family.

"Well, I guess for one day wouldn't be so bad," Sam said hesitantly. "I'll have to pick a date that will work for me. Can't have my parents suspicious of where I go throughout all of Spring Break."

"That's great!" Danny exclaimed. "Just tell me when and get back to me."

"Okay, I will," replied Sam.

"Bye!"

"Later!" Sam shut her shell phone and thought about her decision. Would Danny's family still hate her for being human?

~0~0~0~

_Danny stared longingly at the other teenagers dancing with their dates. While it was always fun to go to high school dances with Tucker and Jazz, Danny always felt very lonely whenever slow music was played. True, he and Tucker would take turns dancing with Jazz but she was Danny's sister. Nothing romantic about that._

"_What's wrong, Danny?" asked Jazz as she swam up to her little brother. "Don't you want to dance?"_

"_As much as I appreciate your kind gesture, Jazz – and believe me, I do – it's just not as fun as dancing with a girl who is NOT related to me," Danny sadly replied. "Of course, how would I know how fun it was? I've never danced with a girl before."_

_Jazz smiled sadly at Danny and sat next to him. "I understand. I've only danced with one boy who was not my brother once."_

"_Johnny doesn't count. You only took him to Homecoming last year out of pity," said Danny._

"_Kitty is always breaking up with him. She even said I could take him to the dance as long as he didn't kiss me," Jazz replied._

"_Hard to tell if those two will stay together or broken up," Danny muttered. He looked at his classmates who were dancing slowly to the music. "Do you think I'll ever find a mate?" he asked his sister._

_Jazz hesitated for a moment, knowing that the Phantom had never had a mate in recorded history. "I'm sure you'll find someone," she tried to assure Danny. _

_Danny's thoughts went to Sam. He wondered how much she had changed since they met. He hoped that she hadn't changed too much. Sam was the first and only female friend he ever had and he really wanted to see her again. Maybe she would be willing to be his mate…_

~0~0~0~

Danny shook his head, burying the lonely memories of his high school years. Today was finally the day that Sam would come visit his home. _'I've already met her family. Now she needs to officially meet mine. Not like last time.'_

He checked the clock and saw that it was time to rendezvous with Sam. He swam out of his bedroom window and headed for the surface. He was still anxious to officially introduce her to his family, especially after how their first encounter went.

Normally he would have swum towards the cave to meet with Sam but since her house was farther away it would have taken her longer for her to show up. So she told him to meet her at the docks of the yacht club her father frequently visited during the summer.

Danny slowly broke the surface of the water underneath one of the docks. If he were in his human disguise he wouldn't be so nervous. This was the most public place he had ever surfaced in.

A green light above his head alerted his presence.

"Danny?" Sam's voice called out in a harsh whisper.

"Sam, I'm literally underneath you," Danny answered in an equally harsh whisper. "Is the coast clear?"

Sam looked around and saw only a chubby old man fast asleep in his lawn chair on one of the other docks. Sam wasn't too concerned about him. He could sleep through a tornado without ever waking up.

"Other than the sleeping fisherman who frequently visits this place, the coast is clear," Sam answered.

"Are you ready?" Danny asked nervously.

Sam smiled. "As ready as I'll ever be," she responded, hiding her nervousness from her boyfriend.

"Hop in."

Sam jumped into the water and landed with a loud splash. Gills, spots and webbed limbs appeared. "Okay. Let's get this over with," she said anxiously.

Danny placed his hand on her cheek. "Don't act like this is a death sentence. This is really important to me. If anything happens, I'll take you home."

Sam sighed. "I know. I just…don't want to mess this up. I want your parents to like me, I really do. I'm just afraid that even if I'm going through all these changes, they still won't like me," she explained.

Danny kissed her forehead. "It will be alright. Whatever happens, I won't let them do anything to you. I promise."

Sam smiled a little. "Do they know that I'm coming over?" she asked.

"My sister, yes. My parents, no. I thought if I told my sister first she could lay it down to them gently before we came," Danny explained.

"After meeting your sister, I don't blame you," Sam muttered. Danny chuckled and the two swam out to sea.

The sleeping fisherman woke up in time to see a merman go under the water. He shook his head in disbelief. He picked up the beer can in the cup holder of his lawn chair.

"I gotta lay off the Budweiser," he told himself, convinced that the alcoholic beverage was making him see things.

~0~0~0~

"Jazz, where is your brother and why do we have to clean the house on such short notice?" Maddie asked her daughter.

"I told you, Mom. Danny is bringing home his girlfriend and he wants the house looking spick and span," Jazz explained.

Maddie sighed. "I still don't like this idea," she said. "I mean, a human in a merman's home? What if…"

"MOM!" Jazz shouted. "Calm down."

"How can I calm down when your brother is bringing a human into my house?" Maddie asked exasperatedly.

Jazz put her face into her webbed hand before looking at her mother. "Look, Mom, I understand that you hate humans because this Vlad human did something to betray your trust. But could you at least _pretend_ to enjoy Sam's company? This is really important to Danny. In fact, this is the happiest I've ever seen him since I told him about that loophole in the rules."

Her mother sighed in defeat. "Very well. I'll behave but it's your father you have to worry about," she said.

Jazz nodded and swam outside where her father was once again scrapping barnacles off the house. Well, actually, he was scrapping barnacles off a sunken submarine that was on top of the house. Jack decided to take advantage of this and used the sub as an ops center where he worked on other experiments.

"How are the barnacles coming along, Dad?" Jazz asked.

"Princess, these things are like a rash. They keep coming back," Jack answered frustrated. "Anyway, is Danny back yet? I want to get this visit over with."

"Dad, I thought you liked humans," said Jazz.

"I do when I'm in _their_ territory," Jack replied. "If they're here then we have to worry about stuff like oxygen and making sure they don't drown. Besides I also like humans because they came up with that fudge stuff! I hope Danny brought some back. That stuff is addicting."

Jazz rolled her eyes. "Just make sure you behave yourself when Sam comes, okay? This is super important to Danny and the last thing he wants is for you or Mom to mess up and embarrass him in front of his girlfriend."

Jack smiled at his daughter. "Don't worry, sweetie. I'll be on my best behavior today," he said confidently.

Jazz then saw two images swimming in their direction. She immediately recognized them as Danny and Sam. "Come on! Forget the barnacles and get inside! They're here!" Jazz said hurriedly as she shoved her large father back into the house.

~0~0~0~

Tucker's shell phone rang as he was trying to make a television work under water.

"Hello?"

"Tucker! Thank Poseidon you answered!" Sidney Poindexter's voice cried.

"Geez, Sid! You nearly blew my eardrum out," Tucker retorted. "Why are you calling? I'm kind of working on something right now."

"I think I got you and Phantom in trouble," Sidney admitted guiltily.

Tucker straightened up. "What's going on? What did you do?"

"I think I had an encounter with a Manmade Hybrid," said Sidney.

"You WHAT?!" Tucker yelled.

"I think I met that Vlad guy you're always talking about."

"Are you sure it was him?"

"Well, he had blue skin, blood red eyes, and he had legs!" Sidney exclaimed.

"You just described Clockwork," said Tucker.

"This guy had fangs and it looked like the devil styled his hair," Sidney described.

Tucker blanched. "That's definitely Plasmius," he gulped. "We've gotta warn Danny and fast!"

* * *

**Sorry about the delay, folks! I had midterms this week so I had to put this on hold. But now that I'm on Spring Break, I can focus on relaxing and writing more chapters! **


	36. Meeting the Family

**Ta-da! A new chapter is here for you! Now Sam has to officially meet Danny's family, without the weapons and the net.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 36**

**Meeting the Family**

Sam saw the coral house with a submarine on the rooftop. This was Danny's house?

Danny saw Sam's bewilderment. "I know my house looks pretty weird but the inside is normal…mostly," he assured her.

"Why is there a submarine on the roof?" Sam asked.

"I don't know how it got there. It's been there since Jazz was born," said Danny. Sam nodded.

The two of them swam up to the front door and Danny opened it. "Mom! Dad! I'm home!" he announced.

A merman with an orange tail and matching fins on his head, arms, and down his back swam down from the second floor. His hair was black with a hint of white and his eyes were midnight blue. Sam immediately recognized him as the Protective Oaf from her mermaid book.

"Hey, Danny-Boy!" the orange merman greeted. He laid his eyes on Sam and recognized her from Danny's grotto. "And this is must be the human girl Danny was always talking about." Sam waved nervously. "Sorry about the net from before."

"Uh, it's okay," Sam murmured. He looked a lot bigger in person. His size really scared her.

"Speaking of which, did you bring more of that fudge stuff? I _really_ love that stuff," said Jack. What the book said was true: he was obsessed with the cocoa bean.

"Uh, sorry, I didn't," said Sam. Jack groaned in a child-like manner.

Danny cleared his throat. "Uh, Dad, this is my girlfriend, Sam Manson. Sam, this is my dad, Jack," he introduced.

"N-Nice to meet to meet you," Sam said nervously. She held out her hand and Jack shook it, causing Sam to shake all over.

Jack looked Sam over and noticed the changes in her appearance. "Well, what do you know! She's coming along great! I'm looking forward to how she'll turn out."

Sam tried to smile. "Uh…thank you," she replied.

Jazz then swam down from the second floor. "Dad, you're scaring her," she scolded. She then noticed Sam. "Hi, Sam. I'm Jazz, remember?"

Sam shook Jazz's hand. "Nice to see you again," she said.

Jazz then turned to her father. "Dad, how about you go get Mom while Sam gets comfortable?" she asked Jack.

Jack nodded and swam to the basement.

Danny noticed Sam's discomfort and became concerned. "Are you okay? I know my dad can be intimidating but he's a really nice guy once you get to know him," he assured her.

Sam sighed. "It's kind of hard to when he tried to catch me in a butterfly net."

Danny lowered his head in shame. Jazz decided to come to his rescue. "Don't worry about my dad. He tends to be protective of his family. When he first saw you, he thought you were a threat and that was why he attacked you. It's just part of his nature," she explained.

Sam then remembered that the Protective Oaf was protective of his mate and offspring despite his clumsy nature. "I guess that makes sense," she said. "How come you're not freaking out about me being here? I read in a book that your breed tends to be overprotective."

Jazz smirked. "I've been looking after my brother his whole life. I'll admit that I was a little skeptical when I first met you but after seeing how much Danny talks about you, I'm willing to give you a chance."

Danny's face turned pink. "Jazz! You're embarrassing me again," he groaned.

Jazz gave the Phantom a hug. "I'm just doing my job as a big sister," she said.

Sam chuckled. _'I guess Jazz is okay. I think I can give her a chance.'_

Maddie then came up from the basement. Sam stared at the Rational Fighter. Her aqua blue tail matched her fin-ears and arms. Maddie's eyes were a different shade of purple from Sam's.

"Hi, Mom," Danny said cautiously. If his mother so much as lay a finger on Sam…

"Hello, Danny," Maddie greeted. She swam over to her black-tailed son and kissed his cheek.

"Mom, I know you've already met her but this is my girlfriend, Sam Manson," Danny introduced.

Sam silently gulped and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you," she said nervously.

Maddie shook Sam's hand, taking note of the girl's appearance. "I see you look different since the last time I saw you," Maddie noted.

"Uh, yeah, they started appearing in January," said Sam.

Maddie nodded. "Danny, Jazz, Jack, could you give…Sam and me some time alone to talk?" she asked. Danny gave his mother a warning glare, thinking she was going to do something to Sam. "Don't look at me like that, young man! I just want to talk to her," she scolded.

Danny then turned to Sam. "I'll be in the other room if you need me," he told her. He kissed her forehead and followed his father and his sister to the basement.

Maddie then turned to the young Goth. If Sam weren't underwater, she'd be sweating profusely; she was so nervous.

"Now Sam, I would like to talk to you about being with my son," Maddie started. "I know that there's no changing his mind when it comes to you." Sam nodded. "What I want to know is how you two first met."

Now Sam understood. Maddie wanted to learn more about Sam before deciding whether she liked the Goth or not.

"Um, well…I first met him eleven years ago," Sam started. "I was walking on the beach when I saw him tangled up in a fishing net."

"So that's what he was up to that day," Maddie muttered to herself.

"Well, when I saw that he was in trouble, I ran towards him to help him out and I tripped and fell on some broken glass. I took a piece of it and I cut a hole in the net to let him out," Sam continued. "He saw that my foot was hurt and he healed it. He was quite fascinated with me."

Maddie nodded. "Yes. Danny's always been fascinated with things that are different. After what happened on the surface when he was a child, his fascination intensified. He learned more and more about the surface world. I tried to discourage him but he wouldn't listen."

"Maybe that was after what happened with his first encounter with Vlad," Sam recalled.

That got Maddie's attention. "He's met Vlad before? Vlad Masters?" she asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. He's a friend of my dad's from their college days. My family was visiting his beach manor when I met Danny. When I saw Danny a second time, Vlad tried to capture him. I tried to stop Vlad from taking Danny away. While he was distracted with me, Danny took that opportunity to escape. Vlad was anything but happy with me…"

~0~0~0~

_ Vlad dragged Sam back to the house by her forearm. Sam struggled to free herself from Vlad's grip but he refused to let go._

_ "Let me go!" the ten-year-old cried. _

_ "You've crossed the line for the last time, girl," Vlad growled. "I knew letting you play on my private beach was a foolish decision."_

_ "Scaring Danny away was a dumber decision!" Sam retorted._

_ Vlad opened the slide door and dragged Sam into the house._

_ Pamela came into the room and saw the situation at hand. "Vlad? What's the meaning of this?" she asked._

_ "Your daughter has been freeing my specimens I've caught for research," Vlad explained. "I cannot – will not – tolerate this kind of behavior!"_

_ Pamela glared at her daughter. "Sammy, why did you do that? How could you do such a thing?"_

_ Sam glared back at her mother. "Mom, he was hurting my new friend! I couldn't let him do that!" she exclaimed._

_ Pamela lifted an eyebrow. "A new friend?"_

_ "She's talking about a certain fish she saw in the water. I had a variety of fish caught in my net," Vlad lied. "I caught her letting them go."_

_ "No, I wasn't!" Sam cried._

_ Pamela put her hands on her hips. "Samantha Elizabeth Manson, you know better than that. Go up to your room and think about what you've done," she said sternly._

_ Sam stared at her mother in disbelief. Her eyes began to water. "YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME!" she yelled. "MR. MASTERS IS A LIAR-LIAR-PANTS-ON-FIRE!" She broke free from Vlad's grip and ran up to her room. She slammed her door shut and locked it. She then jumped on her bed and buried her face into a pillow and cried her amethyst eyes out._

~0~0~0~

"I couldn't tell my mom that my new friend was a merman," Sam explained. "She wouldn't have believed me anyway."

Maddie stared in awe after listening to Sam's story. This girl was willing to keep their existence a secret?

"After that, I was no longer allowed to go with my parents to Vlad's manor until recently," Sam continued. "Vlad invited me and my friends to his manor where he tried to capture Danny again and I think you know the rest of the story."

Maddie nodded. That filled in a few blanks about her son's whereabouts. Sam sounded like she was telling the truth about her involvement with Danny but Maddie was still a little skeptical about putting her guard down around this girl.

"And you've kept his existence a secret ever since?" Maddie inquired.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. If I told anyone they'd probably never believe me anyway, so I kept the whole thing to myself," she said. "For over a decade, I was convinced that Danny hated me for what happened. It tore me up inside. I hated Vlad for using me to lure Danny out of hiding."

Despite the fact that her motherly instincts were screaming at her to not believe Sam, Maddie reluctantly decided to give Sam the benefit of the doubt.

"Well, as much as I don't want to admit it – and I _really_ don't want to admit it – I guess I can give this whole thing a try," Maddie sighed. Sam took that as a sign of approval…hopefully.

"YES!"

Both women turned and Danny burst out of the basement, swam up to his mother, and tackled her into a tight hug. Maddie should have known he'd be eavesdropping on them by listening through the door.

"Thank you so much, Mom!" he exclaimed gratefully. "You have no idea how much this means to me!"

"You're welcome, sweetie," Maddie gagged. "Could you please let me go now?"

Danny let go of his mother and swam over to Sam who received a grateful kiss from him.

"NOT in front of me," Maddie said through gritted teeth. She didn't like the idea but she'd tolerate it (to an extent) if it made her son happy.

Danny parted the kiss and smiled cheekily. "Sorry. Got carried away," he said humbly.

Jack and Jazz came up from the basement. Both were happy that Maddie (kind of) approved of Sam.

"I'm really glad you've found someone, little brother," Jazz praised, ruffling her brother's white hair. He responded by irritably swatting her webbed hand away. He hated it when she did that.

Jack then got excited. "Now that I think about it, Sam can easily get the fudge stuff for us," he said excitedly. "I like her already!"

Sam rolled her eyes in good humor. She had a feeling that she was going to like Jack a lot.

Someone banging on the door loudly interrupted the conversation.

"DANNY! DANNY, OPEN UP! IT'S SID AND TUCKER! LET US IN!" Tucker's voice screamed.

Jazz swam over to the front door and Tucker and Sidney charged through, not noticing that they shoved her to the floor.

Danny was rather ticked off that his two friends interrupted such an important visit. "Tucker, unless that TV you found is now working underwater, I can't hang out with you today," he said irritably.

"It's not that and I still haven't gotten it to work yet," said Tucker. "Sid here might have gotten you and Sam in trouble."

"How was I supposed to know that it was him?" Sid defended. "You guys never showed me what he looked like!"

"What are you two talking about?" asked Sam.

Sidney took a deep breath and explained rather hastily what happened between him and Plasmius.

"So Vlad knows?" Sam asked for clarity. Sidney nodded grimly. Sam tightened her grip on Danny's arm.

"And you willingly told him about me and Sam?" Danny asked, his temper slowly rising.

"From the way he spoke of you, I assumed that you knew each other," Sidney defended.

Maddie then stepped in. "Hold on! What are you kids talking about?" she asked.

The four kids looked at Maddie and exchanged glances with each other.

Danny then turned to his mother. "Mom, Vlad never wanted to expose us to the humans when he was in college," he admitted. "He wanted to become one of us so he could be with you."

Maddie's eyes widened. "What? He did?" she asked. She sat down in a chair as she took this information in. "So, when he took a blood sample from Jack…"

"He wanted a DNA sample so he could become a merman through science," Danny finished.

"That was why Vladdie poked me with that needle?" Jack asked in shock. The kids nodded grimly. Jack smacked himself in the forehead. "Oh, crud. I should have known."

"He didn't tell anyone," said Tucker. "You had no idea so don't blame yourself, Mr. Fenton."

"Yeah, but when you and Mom got married, Vlad decided to put his experiment to the test early and he had to be hospitalized," Danny continued. "When he got out, he was now a Manmade Hybrid."

Danny's family gasped.

"A Manmade Hybrid?" Jack repeated.

"Those creatures are considered an abomination!" Jazz exclaimed.

"They're as dangerous as Dark Phantom himself," Maddie noted.

"Well this guy is probably just as dangerous," Danny said. "He's after me because I'm an outcast like him and outcasts should stick together. He's still after Mom too. He figured that if Mom saw how he turned out when he changed, she'd leave Dad and be with him."

Maddie's jaw dropped. "I'd never stoop so low. I don't care if he grows a third eye and becomes covered in hair. I'd never leave Jack."

"And now he's recruited the Guys in White to find Danny and capture him," Sam finished.

"Who are the Guys in White?" asked Jazz.

"A group of government agents who hunt down supernatural creatures, such as you guys," Sam explained.

"What should we do?" asked Sidney.

Sam opened her mouth to answer but realized that she had no idea what their next step should be.

"Maybe we should keep a low profile," Tucker suggested. "That's all I can think of."

Maddie sighed. "I guess that's our only option," she said in defeat. She was already beginning to have second thoughts about Danny's relationship with Sam.

"Well, we'll keep our eyes peeled and Sam should head back to the surface," said Jack.

"What about me? I have to go back to Leviathan soon," said Sidney.

"We'll talk to your uncle about this," said Jazz.

Danny took Sam's hand and guided her out of the house with Tucker following close behind.

* * *

**Things are going to heat up soon! Vlad is going to make a move on our heroes soon! Dun, dun, duuuuun!  
**

**I've been thinking: should I make a sequel to this once I'm done with it? **


	37. Hostage

**Sorry about the delay. I would have work more on this more but my folks wouldn't leave me alone about finding a job for the summer. Kind of hard to do in this God-forsaken economy... Anyway, I finally finished the next chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 37**

**Hostage**

Spring Break went by in a heartbeat. Clockwork was next to useless when it came to helping them, using the same excuse as usual: he was not allowed to say anything. Valerie was a little more helpful. She was kind enough to have security escort her three friends to and from their classes. She also escorted Daniel and Tucker back to the clock shop to make sure no one harmed them.

"Is this going to be a regular thing with Vlad?" Tucker complained. "He shows up for a day and then disappears for weeks."

"Maybe he's trying to catch us off guard," Sam suggested.

"Well, he better do something fast," Valerie grumbled irritably. "It feels like we're dealing with a stalker instead of a freak of nature. Finals are almost here and if Vlad wants to make a move, he'd better do it soon. I'm sorry but studying for finals will be impossible unless something happens."

"As true as that is, it's not very comforting," Daniel muttered.

"We can't keep this up forever," said Sam. "What are we going to do?"

~0~0~0~

The weather was finally warm and spring was here. To celebrate, Danny decided to go out for a little swim with Tucker and Cujo. Tucker took an immediate liking to the great white shark. Danny could tell because after Cujo was done giving him slobbery kisses, the shark then moved on to Tucker.

"So, any new changes to Sam's appearance?" Tucker asked curiously.

"She hasn't told me anything new so I'm guessing that it's just more scales showing up," Danny assumed.

"I wonder if Valerie would make a good mate for me," Tucker wondered.

Danny burst out laughing. "Dude, the moment she found out she had four extra limbs growing out of her hips, she'd clobber you till you were mush," he laughed.

Tucker shot his best friend a look. "Hey man, you don't know that," he defended.

"She gave Dash a black eye when he groped her," said Danny. "She's not a force of nature to mess with."

"I'll think of some way to get her to agree," Tucker said with hope in his eyes.

Cujo and Danny rolled their eyes. "I know. Sometimes I wonder if there's any hope for him too," Danny said to Cujo.

A blast of energy brushed past the three, gaining their attention. Danny and Tucker turned and saw two humans in white scuba outfits swimming towards them. They were carrying bazookas on their shoulders. Jetpacks were strapped to their backs to make them swim faster.

"Primary target sighted," said Operative O.

"There's another with him. Should we get him too?" asked Operative K.

"He'll be Plan B. Right now let's focus on our target," said O.

"Roger that."

They fired again at the boys and shark. They swiftly dodged the blasts.

"We've gotta lose them," said Danny who was trying to keep Cujo from attacking them.

"Way ahead of you," said Tucker. He released a cloud of black ink that blocked the humans' view of them.

When the ink cleared up, both the mermen and the shark were gone.

"Looks like we were given the slip," said K.

"I can see why the Phantom is the most elusive of his kind," O remarked.

"As long as the one with the tentacles is with him catching the Phantom will be impossible," said K. "We have to get him when he's alone."

"Or if our secondary target is with him," O added.

~0~0~0~

"The Guys in White attacked you?" Sam asked in exasperatedly the next day over lunch. "What happened? Is Cujo okay?"

"Cujo's fine," Tucker answered. "He was a little pissed that he couldn't get a bite out of them but he got over it."

"If the GiW is starting to attack us on our turf then it's only a matter of time before Vlad makes a move," Daniel said grimly.

"Or if he decides to attack you guys himself," Valerie added. Both boys nodded.

"What should we do?" asked Sam. "Val and I can't keep a watchful eye on you two twenty-four seven."

"We can ask Mr. Tock for advice," Valerie suggested.

"Have you ever asked Mr. Tock for advice?" Sam asked her friend in a deadpan tone.

"Never gonna happen," Tucker and Daniel said at the same time.

~0~0~0~

Sam was getting the hang of swimming with her webbed limbs. At this point, both her legs were completely covered in royal purple scales. Hiding them was becoming a challenge, especially when it rained outside. She was just grateful for the rain boots she got a few years ago.

"How are you doing?" Danny asked as he floated upside-down in front of Sam.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this," Sam remarked.

Danny smiled at this revelation. It made him happy that Sam was beginning to accept the fact that she was changing into a mermaid.

Sam suddenly felt a ringing in her ears. They also started to hurt and itch at the same time. "D-Danny? Something's wrong…with my head," she grunted as she tried to scratch her ears.

Danny swam over to see what was wrong. "Looks like your ears have finally developed," he noted.

"My what?" Sam felt her ears on her head. Instead of the usual flesh located where her ears would have been, she felt scales and membrane. "I'M GROWING FINS NOW?!"

Danny gently put her arms down from her head. "Take it easy. It's just another transformation," he soothed. "Everyone has them." He wiggled his black and white fin-ears to prove his point.

Sam checked her arms and saw that nothing was growing from them and let out a sigh of relief. "Nothing there yet," she breathed.

Danny then intertwined his fingers with Sam's. "I'm looking forward to it though," he purred. His black tail then snaked around Sam's legs, binding them. He then started kissing and licking Sam's gills. She moaned in pleasure.

A blast interrupted their little moment. Both managed to dodge it and saw that the two humans in white scuba gear were back.

"Primary target is in sight," said O.

"Secondary target is also in sight," said K.

"Copy that," O replied. They fired another shot at the duo. Danny grabbed Sam and managed to dodge the attack.

"They will not take my mate," Danny growled. Sam saw that he was clearly in defensive mode. His teeth were now sharp like a shark's. His green eyes glowed brighter than usual.

"Hand the girl to us, and we'll leave you in peace," said K.

"Never," Danny snarled. He pushed Sam behind him and fired an energy blast at the two humans. "She's mine."

The two humans split up. With Sam unable to use magic yet, Danny was clearly outnumbered. Taking the opportunity, he hid Sam in a bunch of coral.

"Be careful," said Sam.

Danny nodded and left her. The Guys in White attacked Danny again but he was ready. He used an Intangi-bubble spell often whenever they tried to attack him. O tried blasting Danny again but he quickly dodged it. K took that chance and fired a tranquilizer dart into Danny's tail. He turned and tried to attack K but his movements already began to sway and slow down. O then fired a net at Danny, capturing him. The merboy tried getting out of the net using magic but he couldn't think straight. Eventually he gave up and became still.

"Target detained," said O.

"We need to return to base," said K. He picked up Danny and the two swam away.

Sam waited a long time before coming out of her hiding place. "Danny?" she called out. "Danny! Can I come out?" No response.

Knowing that the Guys in White took Danny, Sam started swimming towards the surface but stopped herself. Naturally, she'd tell Clockwork and the others about what just happened but Danny's family was closer. On the other hand, if Sam went to them first she'd have to face Maddie's wrath and lose what little respect she had towards her. However, Tucker and Valerie had known about what Vlad had been up to since September while Maddie was a decade and a half behind.

Sam shook her head and continued swimming towards the surface. She didn't break it until she entered the cave. Her shoes and purse were hidden behind some rocks. She pulled out her shell phone and dialed Tucker's number.

"Hello?"

"Tucker, it's Sam."

"Hey, Sam. Why are you calling?"

"Danny's missing."

"MISSING?!" Tucker repeated so loudly that Sam had to pull her shell phone away from her new fin-ear.

"The Guys in White came and attacked. Danny hid me and they got him," Sam explained bluntly.

"And you didn't try to fight back?" asked Tucker.

"Hello? Have you ever seen me perform magic like you and Danny?" Sam asked.

"Have you ever done it before?"

"IF I COULD DO MAGIC LIKE YOU, I'D TELL YOU!" Sam yelled.

"Okay, okay! Where are you right now?" asked Tucker.

"I'm at the cave right now," Sam replied.

"Stay there. Val and I are on our way."

"Before you do, find out where they've taken Danny," said Sam.

"How am I supposed to do that?" asked Tucker.

"Ask Clockwork."

"He won't tell me squat."

Sam rolled her eyes. "I don't care if you have to water board him to find out where he is. Get Clockwork to talk."

~0~0~0~

"What shall we do about the specimen?" O asked Vlad.

"Leave him in the tank for now. I have some questions of my own for him," Vlad replied.

"When is the earliest we can take the specimen back with us?" asked K.

"Oh, in the morning I think," Vlad replied without taking his eyes off his prize.

"Very well. We shall pick the Phantom up at nine o' clock tomorrow morning," said O. The two agents then left Vlad's manor and went back to their hotel.

Vlad smiled evilly at the unconscious merman. "I've got the bait. Now I just need to get the other prize," he told himself. Since the boy was now with him, Sam would no doubt come to rescue him and that would be when Vlad strikes.

Vlad tapped on the glass to wake Danny up. The boy stirred and slowly opened his glowing neon green eyes. Upon seeing Vlad, Danny panicked and tried to escape but realized too late that he was trapped.

"I see that you're finally awake, Daniel," said Vlad.

Danny scowled at the silver haired human. "What do you want, Plasmius? Let me go!"

"Oh, I will…as soon as you tell me what the significance of Samantha's pendant is," Vlad demanded.

"No way. I'm telling you anything," Danny answered.

"Are you sure? Because I know that Samantha is coming for you sooner or later," Vlad said. "It's only natural for her to come to her mate's aid, correct?"

Danny's eyes widened. "How did you know Sam's my intended mate?" he asked.

"You can thank a grey-skinned lad down below if you live to tell the tale," Vlad replied.

"I'm gonna kill Poindexter," Danny muttered to himself.

"Since Samantha is your intended mate, I'm guessing it's not official?" Vlad inquired.

"Not yet. Why do you ask?"

"Because that pearl around her neck is supposed to be a sign of engagement," Vlad replied.

"Okay, if you know all this stuff, why are you asking me the significance of the pearl?" Danny asked irritably.

"That's the one piece of the puzzle I cannot find," Vlad answered. "I still have my human DNA while Samantha's is slowly merging with fish DNA that is slowly turning her into a mermaid."

"So your question is?"

"Why does it have such power? A simple gem that has the power to locate you wherever you are, light up in the moonlight, and repel people's touch. Samantha has had that pearl for eleven years and only now does it show its power. How after all these years is she finally slowly turning into a mermaid?" asked Vlad. Danny said nothing. Vlad scowled at the boy. "I will find out how if it's the last thing I do," he vowed.

* * *

**What a drag... I was hoping to add more chapters but, like I said, I was busy looking for jobs. **

**Things are now heating up! Action, romance, drama! **


	38. Rescue

**Another gripping chapter has arrived! You guys are wanting more so here you go! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters...blah, blah, blah! I think it's safe to say I clearly don't own the characters, just this story. **

* * *

**Chapter 38**

**Rescue**

Sam rushed back to the clock shop as fast as she could. She wasn't going to wait for Tucker and Valerie to come to the cave. She didn't care if people saw how different she currently looked like. All she cared about was getting Danny away from Vlad. When she arrived and went upstairs, she saw Tucker and Valerie's bodies glowing purple and frozen in place. _'Of course Clockwork saw this coming…'_

"Clockwork! Where are you?" Sam yelled.

Clockwork came out of his study. "You should know better than to sic a Cecaelia and a young adult human on me, Samantha," he scolded.

Sam turned her attention to the Master of Time. "Well, standing around like a bunch of Congressmen is not going to save Danny," said Sam. "Could you please unfreeze them? We need to think of a plan to save Danny."

Clockwork held up his Time Staff. "Time in," he said as he pressed a button. Valerie and Tucker were unfrozen.

"What have I told you about using that weird staff?" Valerie asked angrily.

"Sam! Sorry, we tried getting him to talk but then Valerie lost her temper and well, you know the rest," said Tucker.

"It doesn't matter," said Sam. "We need to figure out a way to save Danny and stop Vlad from doing anything to him."

"Well, what are we going to do?" Valerie asked irritably. "Knock on the front door and demand him to tell us where he's holding Danny?"

"Not to mention, the Guys in White probably already have a bunch of data and stuff on Danny. We need to either retrieve that data or erase it so they can't get it back," said Tucker.

"Well, you're into computers and junk," said Valerie. "Can't you get it from Vlad's computer or something?"

"I can but I haven't exactly mastered the art of hacking yet," Tucker said modestly.

"He's already hacked three of the FBI's top hackers and the Area 41 website," said Clockwork. Tucker smiled cheekily.

"We're going to need your computer skills to erase any trace of Danny from Vlad's computer and from the Guys in White," said Sam.

"Isn't that a felony or something?" asked Tucker.

"Technically you and Danny are not U.S. citizens so you guys can't get arrested," said Valerie.

"Can you help us at all, Clockwork?" Sam asked.

He shook his head. "I can only give you a warning," he said.

"Better than nothing," said Sam. "Let's hear it."

"If Vladimir were to ever harm a hair on your head, Samantha, the Phantom's true nature will be unleashed," Clockwork warned. "Only you can tame the savage beast."

The three blinked in confusion.

"So how are we gonna get in without Vlad finding us? We can't just waltz in the front door," said Valerie, getting back to the problem at hand.

Sam thought long and hard about it. "I remember seeing a hatch on the floor of the basement lab," she recalled. "Maybe if we went in through there, we could use the element of surprise on Vlad."

"What if he's in the basement?" asked Tucker. "Then we're at a disadvantage."

"You're right. We need a distraction," said Sam. The two then looked at Valerie, the only person who was not able to breathe underwater.

Valerie looked at them. "What?"

~0~0~0~

Sam and Tucker swam to Danny's grotto. Sidney was just swimming back there after 'walking' Cujo.

"I got your text message," said Sidney, showing them his shell phone. "Sounds urgent. What do you need?"

"Did you bring what I asked?" asked Tucker.

Sidney held up a sack. "Got all the components. I just hope the scent is still there after all these months." He emptied the sack and a bunch of pieces of Vlad's droids landed on a flat rock.

"So, what are we gonna do?" asked Sam. "I don't know how to get to Vlad's house from underwater."

"Which is why Cujo here is going to lead us there," Tucker said confidently.

"Is this even legal surface-wise?" Sidney asked nervously. "What if the High Council in Atlantis finds out about this? You know what that means? One hundred years to life in the Bermuda Triangle Prison! I can't do time in the slammer! I won't last a week!"

"Sid! Calm down!" Tucker exclaimed.

"How can I? Trout like me never last long in the big house!"

"We're rescuing one of our own. How is that illegal?"

"Guys! Can we please focus?" Sam asked irritably. Both boys shut up. Sam then held a piece of Vlad's droid in front of Cujo, who sniffed it. He then sniffed the ocean floor until he finally caught something. He then released something that sounded like a howl. "We've got a trail."

The three friends then swam after the great white shark. To keep up with everyone, Sam held onto Cujo's dorsal fin. Poor Sidney had him on a leash and was dragged along the ocean floor.

They eventually stopped outside a cave.

"This is where the entrance to Vlad's secret basement lab is?" Sam asked in disbelief.

Tucker looked around and saw a large window. He carefully edged towards it and peeked in. "Oh yeah. This is definitely the place," he confirmed. "I recognize the floor tiles."

"Do you see Danny?" asked Sam.

"Not from this angle. I don't want to get closer. Vlad might see me," said Tucker.

Sam growled in frustration. "Uuughh! Where's Valerie? She should be at the front door by now."

"Who is Valerie?" asked Sidney.

"My girlfriend," Tucker replied. "She's waiting for my signal." He pulled out his shell phone and started to text her. "As soon as she texts us back, that's our turn to strike."

"Uh, I hate to pee in your swimming pool, but how is Valerie gonna text you back if she's distracting Vlad?" asked Sidney.

Sam gave Sidney a smug grin. "Valerie has a way of texting under a person's nose. She'll be able to tell us."

~0~0~0~

Valerie waited in her car about a block away from Vlad's manor. She was kind of excited about this. She'd never done a stakeout before. Too bad her first one had to be involved with supernatural creatures.

A tune from the song 'Under the Sea' rang out from her shell phone (also from Clockwork). Val grabbed it and opened it. Yes! Tucker and the others finally found a way into the basement from the water. Now it was her turn.

Valerie drove her car to Vlad's manor and parked out front. She stepped out and rang the doorbell.

Vlad opened the door. "Valerie Gray? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Hey, Mr. Masters. Can I have a moment of your time?" Valerie inquired.

"Well, you kind have caught me at a bad time," Vlad replied. Not to mention he was aware that Valerie knew what he really was. At least he was pretty sure; she was outside the house when he showed her friends what he had become.

"I promise it won't take that long," Valerie insisted. Behind her back, she was texting a bunch of gibberish to Tucker, letting him know that she had Vlad distracted.

"I really can't, Valerie," Vlad insisted. "I have work to do."

"Well, do you need help? I can help you with whatever it is you're working on," Valerie offered. She sent the text.

"No, thank you. Good night," said Vlad.

As he was about to close the door, Valerie put her foot in the doorway to keep it from closing.

"Come one, Mr. Masters. What could be more important than to spend a few minutes answering questions for my business class?" Valerie asked through gritted teeth. Distracting this fruit loop was harder than she thought.

"Something that involves the government. It's called paying my taxes," Vlad said irritably. "I've been putting it off for far too long."

"I can ask the questions while you're doing them," Valerie grunted as she pushed the door, trying to keep it from closing.

"I need to do this in a quiet environment," Vlad grunted as he pushed the door.

Seeing that simply pushing the door open would get her nowhere, Valerie slowly inched her way towards the opening. If she could squeeze her way through…

~0~0~0~

Tucker's shell phone vibrated. He opened it and saw a bunch of letters and gibberish on his screen. It was from Valerie.

"I didn't say she could text words and complete sentences," said Sam.

"It doesn't matter," said Tucker. "What matters is that she has Vlad distracted and that's our chance to rescue Danny."

The three friends, plus a shark, swam into the cavern. Tucker's hand lit up with energy and they swam deep into the cavern's depths. When they saw a hatch near the ceiling, they knew it was what they were looking for.

Sidney and Tucker twisted the hatch door open (Tucker had to use his tentacles for extra strength). Sam grabbed the ladder and started climbing up. Tucker soon followed.

He stopped and looked down at Sidney. "If we're not back in…half an hour, get Danny's parents. They'll know what to do," he told Sidney.

"What about Cujo?" asked Sidney.

"Make sure he goes with you."

"Make this quick. I'm no psychic but I'm picking up a lot of negative vibes from this place and I want to get out of here as quickly as possible," said Sidney.

Tucker nodded and climbed up. Sam was waiting for him and continued climbing.

"Hey, Tucker? I have a question but it sounds kind of stupid," Sam said as they climbed.

"Shoot," said Tucker.

"Well, obviously most of the things your people say are Latin, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I'm not exactly fluent in the dead language so I've gotta know; what does 'te amo' mean?" Sam asked.

Tucker blinked. "It means 'I love you'. Why?"

"That's weird. That's how they say it in Spanish," Sam recalled.

"Weird indeed," Tucker agreed.

They finally reached the top where Sam twisted another hatch door open. She slowly opened it to make sure the coast was clear. They were indeed back in the basement lab. Sam opened the hatch wider and climbed out. She helped Tucker out as soon as he used a dry spell on himself.

It wasn't that hard to find Danny. The tank he was in was pretty big. He just laid there in the artificially colored rocks looking miserable. He knew that if he tried to break out, he'd be at a disadvantage. Vlad was still in the house and the smallest noise would alert the fruit loop that his hostage was escaping.

A tapping on the glass broke him out of his daze and saw who was making the noise. Danny's face lit up when he saw that Sam was here obviously to rescue him. Tucker was also there, doing some sort of trick on Vlad's computer with his PDA (in a waterproof case, by the way). Danny placed his hand against the glass, wanting so badly to be on the other side and to have his mate in his arms.

Sam put her hand on the glass too and observed the tank, looking for some way for Danny to get out. Seeing that there was no sure fire way to get him out, she decided to break him out. She gestured to him that she'd be right back and looked around the basement to find something that would set her boyfriend free.

"How's your end coming, Tucker?" Sam asked.

"I've already downloaded everything on Vlad's computer. Now I'm just erasing every little thing on it so he can't retrieve it," Tucker answered.

"Well make it quick. I don't know how long Valerie can keep Vlad busy," said Sam. Her eyes landed on a pipe sitting in a corner. Obviously Vlad didn't bother throwing it away after Danny wrecked the pipe works back in the fall. It would have to do.

Sam picked up the pipe and smashed it against the glass of the tank. Danny instinctively got back as far as he could. Sam smashed the pipe against the glass again and again until cracks began to form.

"Almost got it, Tuck," Sam announced.

"Great. I've got everything I need from Vlad's computer. If I hack into the Guys in White, we're in the clear," said Tucker.

"Okay. Batter up!" Sam exclaimed and swung the pipe again with all her might. The glass finally broke and water poured out all over the floor along with Danny.

"Awesome! He's out!" Tucker cheered.

Sam dropped the pipe and knelt down on the floor next to Danny. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Y-Yeah," he stammered as he sat up. "I'll be fine."

Sam smiled. "This is the extent I was talking about when it came to sea animals in tanks," she stated, remembering their talk at the aquarium.

Danny smiled back. "Te amo," he said.

Sam blushed. "T-Te am –" A blast from behind hit Sam in the back, cutting her off before she could finish what she was going to say. She collapsed into Danny's arms, unconscious.

"SAM!" Tucker yelled.

"Your meddling has gone on far enough, Samantha," Vlad said as he came into the basement. One hand was smoking magenta while his other arm was wrapped around Valerie.

"Let me go, you freaky fruit loop," Valerie growled as she tried to break free from Vlad's grip.

Tucker saw that Danny hid his face behind his bangs. The Cecaelia paled when he remembered Clockwork's warning.

"Vlad, you really shouldn't have done that to Sam," Tucker whimpered as he backed away from his best friend. This was about to get real ugly real fast.

Vlad scoffed. "And since when are you concerned for my well being?" he asked.

"You hurt my mate," Danny growled suddenly. His teeth were slowly sharpening. He turned his face towards Vlad. His eyes glowed brightly, his pupils no longer visible. His normal fingernails were slowly turning into claws. "YOU…HURT…MY…MATE!"

A burst of energy erupted from Danny's body, his hair breaking free from its ponytail. His tail was replaced with two scaly black legs with webbed feet. He turned his eyes towards Vlad who was so shocked about this transformation, Valerie took that chance to break free and went to Tucker.

"Valerie, Vlad just unleashed the Phantom's true nature," Tucker said in fear.

* * *

**The climatic battle is next!  
**

**Man, Vlad is stupid for doing that to Sam! He really should have done his homework.**

**Will Danny defeat Vlad? Is Sam really okay? Will Danny come back to his senses? Will CBS renew CSI:NY for another season? Why am I asking you?**

**Stay tuned!**


	39. Beauty Tames the Savage Beast

**Yippee-ki-yay! I've finally finished this chapter! For those who have read my other stories, you should remember that I SUCK AT WRITING BATTLE SCENES! I must warn you that it's pretty cliche. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 39**

**Beauty Tames the Savage Beast**

"Impossible!" Vlad exclaimed. "Only Dark Phantom was able to grow legs while still a merman. How is Daniel able to pull it off?"

"Maybe it's because you knocked his girlfriend out cold? How about that?!" Valerie exclaimed. She checked Sam's pulse. "I've got a pulse. She'll be alright."

Danny wasn't listening. He stared at Vlad with so much hatred, it would probably make Poseidon himself shiver in fear.

"You will pay for what you have done!" Danny hissed in a demonic tone of voice. He leapt at Vlad and made a swipe at him with his claws. Luckily Vlad managed to dodge just in time.

"And you will pay for your insolence," Vlad retorted. With that, he ripped a pipe off the wall and allowed the water to spray him, changing him into Plasmius. "Game on!"

Danny fired an energy blast at Vlad, knocking him into the wall. Vlad retaliated by creating water clones of himself (made from the water that was now all over the floor) to attack the Phantom. The clones tried to attack Danny but the boy easily destroyed them with energy blasts. Vlad created more clones but this time they were able to attack Danny.

While this was going on, Tucker and Valerie were trying desperately to wake Sam up.

"Come on, Sam!" Tucker pleaded. "Danny can't calm down unless you wake up!"

"Come on, girl. I'll kick your ass if you don't wake up now," said Valerie.

Danny then punched Vlad in the jaw and kicked him across the room towards the others.

Vlad saw Sam's pearl around her neck and tried to grab it. Tucker splashed water on himself and used one of his tentacles to grab Vlad's wrist before he even had a chance to take it.

"Taking something from a girl while she's unconscious? That's not fair," Tucker stated. Vlad responded by lighting his wrist with energy, burning Tucker's tentacle. "YOWCH! That's not fair either!"

"That pearl holds power. I must have it!" Vlad exclaimed.

"GET…AWAY…FROM…MY…FRIENDS!" Danny roared as he pulled Vlad away from the group and swiped him across the chest, destroying his shirt and leaving his chest bloody.

Sam stirred and slowly opened her eyes. "Uuugghhh…what hit me?"

"Sam, thank God you're awake!" Valerie exclaimed as she helped her friend back on her feet.

After knocking Vlad into the wall, Danny's fin-ears perked when Valerie said Sam's name. He turned and faced Sam who stared back in horror at what had happened to Danny. He looked exactly like the monster from the dream she had.

"Danny?" Sam gasped. "Is…is that you?"

Danny seemed to relax a little and his eyes softened a little as well, though his pupils were still not visible. "S-S-Sam?" he said, his tone calmer but still demonic.

"Dude, you can chill now. Sam's fine," Tucker assured his friend.

Sam slowly walked towards Danny. He stroked her cheek with the back of his slimy hand.

"You got…hurt…" he trailed off.

"I'm not that hurt, Danny. It's just a burn," Sam assured him.

"Sam…"

The two of them were about to lean in towards each other when Valerie suddenly paled. "Uh, Danny? I don't think Vlad's ready to throw in the towel yet," she said anxiously.

Danny turned and saw Vlad climb out of the rubble, anger evident in his eyes. Danny snarled and stood protectively in front of Sam. Vlad fired an energy blast at the group, making them scatter.

"I will get that pearl," Vlad vowed. More water clones appeared and attacked.

Sam picked up the pipe she used and tried fighting one off. Valerie pulled out her taser and was in a standoff with another, daring it to come near her. Tucker used every offensive spell he knew to fight another one. Danny fought the real one.

"I should have known," Vlad said as he dodged Danny's punches and kicks. "You're deeply in love with Samantha. I threatened her life, and your true nature emerges. Without her, you'll be all alone in the world; the most common trait of all the Phantoms of the past."

"I will not be alone!" Danny exclaimed as he swiped at Vlad. "Sam will be with me always!"

"Did she actually agree to be with you forever? Or is she still undecided?" Vlad taunted.

"Shut up!"

Little did either of them know was that another clone slowly snuck up behind Sam and yanked her necklace off her neck.

"OW!" she screamed in pain. The clone pulled hard enough for the skin to break. Her neck was already bleeding. The clone then went back to Vlad. "No! My pearl!"

That got everyone's attention. Everyone stopped fighting as the clone gave Vlad the pearl. "Excellent. I finally have it," he purred.

"GIVE IT BACK!" Danny yelled as he tried to get the pearl back.

"Now I shall become a full-fledged merman," Vlad said. He tried summoning its power but nothing happened. He concentrated as best as he could but nothing would happen. The pearl did not glow. It only reflected the light off its snowy white surface.

"What the? What is the meaning of this?" Vlad demanded. "It's not working."

"Give me back my pearl!" Sam demanded. The pearl glowed bright green and burned Vlad's hand. He screamed and dropped it. Sam took that opportunity and grabbed the gemstone off the floor.

"I…I don't understand," said Vlad. "How is it that a monster like the Phantom is able to touch that pearl when I can't?"

"It takes a monster to know a monster," Valerie muttered.

"The reason you can't touch it, Plasmius, is because Danny was the one who gave it to Sam in the first place," Tucker explained. He then turned to Sam. "You might have figured it out by now but that pearl is our people's version of an engagement ring. When Danny gave it to you when you were kids, it might not have made much of a difference."

"Then why did it start acting all weird recently?" Sam asked.

"The engagement doesn't become official until it is exposed to moonlight for the first time," Tucker replied.

That rang a bell in Valerie's mind. "Labor Day weekend," she said.

Valerie was right. The pearl didn't start glowing until moonlight shined down on it that one night at Vlad's manor at the beginning of the semester.

"Of course!" Sam realized. "Then why am I turning into a mermaid?"

Tucker opened his mouth when he realized that he didn't have an answer for that. All the facts he told Sam were from his parents whenever he asked them how they met or how they got married. Human transformation was a new one for him. This was a first.

Danny smirked. "The reason you can't use it, Plasmius, is because the pearl is Sam's connection to me. It knows where I am if Sam wishes to see me. It also protects her when I cannot. That is why you can't touch it," he explained.

Vlad's face turned red in anger at this revelation. He roared and launched himself at Sam. Danny shoved him aside before he could harm Sam and slashed his claws across Vlad's torso.

"I don't want to sound like I'm siding with Vlad or anything like that, but we have to stop Danny before he rips Vlad to shreds," Valerie told her friends.

Sam stared at Valerie in disbelief. "What? Why would we want to rescue Vlad from Danny?"

"Think about it, Sam," said Tucker. "If Danny does the unthinkable, he'd be no better than the Phantoms before him. The guilt of killing someone will probably consume him. Not to mention, the Observants in Atlantis will have his tailfin if they get word of the Phantom killing a human again. And trust me, it won't be pretty."

They all looked at Danny who was currently blocking some of Vlad's attacks and retaliating with some of his own. Danny then took a deep breath and unleashed the Wail. Everyone covered their ears in a vain attempt to block out the awful noise. Beakers and vials shattered, the giant window started to crack, computer screens cracked, and Vlad was blown against the wall. As soon as the Wail died down Danny, still filled with plenty of energy, closed in on the Manmade Hybrid, ready to finish him off.

"Danny, stop! That's enough!" Sam yelled.

"Dude, if you waste Vlad, you're going to regret it!" Tucker chimed in.

"If you do this, Danny, there's no turning back!" Valerie added.

Danny didn't seem to be listening. At this point, he was completely lost to his instincts. Destroying Vlad was the only thing on his mind.

Without thinking, Sam ran to the fight and got in-between Danny and Vlad.

"Danny, it's okay. You can stop now," she tried telling him. Danny tried to get past Sam but she pushed him back. What Sam said next she didn't know where the words came from; heck, she didn't know she knew them. "Te amo quoque, Danny," she said.

Danny froze. Sam's words echoed in his fin-ears. She finally admitted it to him. His vision, blurred by red, started to clear a little. His eyes began to dim back to its original glow, his pupils reappearing.

"S-S-Sam?" he said, his voice now back to normal. He looked at Vlad who was now unconscious and bloody. He then looked at the rest of the lab that was now in ruins. "Did I do this?" he asked.

Valerie tiptoed towards Vlad and checked his pulse. "Relax. He's still alive," she told them. "These scratch marks don't look that deep. He'll live."

Danny was shocked that he alone did all of this damage to the place. He hid his face behind his bangs in disgust and shame and turned his face away.

Seeing that he was upset, Sam placed her hand on his cheek and forced him to face her.

"Don't be ashamed, Danny," she comforted. "You were just trying to protect me."

"Did I have to destroy this place to do it?" he asked.

Sam hesitated. She didn't know how to answer. She'd admit that the Wail was overkill but it did stop Vlad from attacking them again.

"Am I really destined to be a monster?" he asked in fear.

"No way, man!" Tucker answered.

"Get that thought out of your head!" Valerie exclaimed.

"Never!" Sam yelled. "You're not like the other Phantoms! You're not alone. You have us and we all love you…especially me." She then kissed him as gently and as passionately as he did to her after their weekend at Vlad's back in the fall.

~0~0~0~

The four friends left the manor after leaving Plasmius on his front lawn (they turned on the sprinklers so he wouldn't change back into a human). Tucker gave Vlad's computer a virus to make sure the Guys in White couldn't retrieve any data. Valerie drove back to campus after Sam declined a ride back to campus. Danny's energy level went down back to normal and his tail quickly replaced his scaly legs and webbed feet.

As the trio swam out of the cavern underneath Vlad's manor, they saw Danny's parents swimming up to them followed by Sidney Poindexter.

"Tucker! Phantom! Sam the human girl! You're not dead!" Sidney exclaimed.

"Danny!" Maddie exclaimed as she swam past her husband and Sidney and embraced her son as tightly as she could. "Oh, my baby! Are you hurt? Did Vlad hurt you?"

"I'm fine, Mom," Danny assured. "Let me go! Too tight!"

"Fine my tailfin!" Maddie scoffed. "Explain these burn marks and scratches on your arms and torso!"

"I fought with Plasmius," Danny explained. "I mean, Vlad."

"Oh, Danny! I'm so sorry we couldn't be there for you," said Maddie.

"Wait a second," Jack interrupted. "How did Danny fight Vladdie in the first place? He only has a tailfin."

The three friends exchanged glances with each other and smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, about that," Tucker started. "It seems that Danny…kinda went…ballistic…"

The two adults blinked in confusion.

Maddie then realized what Tucker was talking about. "Tucker, are you saying that…Danny's true nature awakened?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah. Sam and Tucker broke into Vlad's basement to rescue me and Vlad hurt Sam. All I remember is Sam collapsing into my arms and after that it's all blank," he explained.

Maddie shot Sam an accusing look. "What happened?" she demanded.

"I'm not exactly sure," Sam answered. "I was knocked out for a few minutes. When I came to, Danny was already…like that."

"When Vlad knocked Sam out, Danny's true nature came out," Tucker explained. "In all the stories I've heard about the Phantom, this is something I've never seen or heard of."

"Well, he's back to normal now," Jack pointed out. "So we don't have to worry about it, right?"

Danny suddenly collapsed. Luckily Sam caught him before he hit the ocean floor.

"Danny!" she cried.

* * *

**Hard to believe that this story is almost done. I really appreciate every single one of your reviews! **

**Congrats, PrayerGirl! You're my 500th reviewer! I give you a virtual pie!**

**If anyone who has read my Pokemon crossover _Voice of the Spirits_ has any ideas for it, please PM me. I hate stories on HIATUS.**


	40. Aftermath

**The second to last chapter is here! I'm so proud of this story and all my fans! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 40**

**Aftermath**

Danny woke up the next morning in his own bedroom. Sam was resting her head on the side of the bed, sleeping. She spent the whole night at his side, refusing to leave him. Danny smiled and stroked her hair as she slept. He slowly got out of bed, picked her up, and tucked her into his bed.

He noticed that her neck had marks from where Vlad's clones stole her necklace from, just below her gills. They finally scabbed over. Danny's hand lit up with green light and he gently placed it on Sam's neck. When he lifted it, the light was already closing the wound. His mind flashed back to when he first met Sam. He still remembered the look on her face when she saw the green light close the cut on her foot. The way she stared in awe and amazement made him smile.

Danny then swam out of his room and slowly closed the door. He then swam to the first floor and found Tucker and Sidney sleeping on top of each other on the sofa.

"Tucker. Tucker, wake up," Danny said as he shook his best friend. Tucker groaned and rolled over. Danny sighed in exasperation. "There's a 'buy one burger, get a free milkshake' sale at the Nasty Burger," he said.

Tucker snorted and slowly woke up. "Wha? Huh? Gimme a burger!" he mumbled as he tried to wake up. He unknowingly knocked Sidney off the sofa, waking him up too.

"The humans have invaded! Evacuate all personnel and proceed to the nearest trench!" Sidney exclaimed. He blinked and realized that he was only having a dream.

"Dude, you're awake," Tucker said to Danny. "You collapsed yesterday and you wouldn't wake up. Your mom was hysterical and your dad wouldn't stop panicking."

"Yeah," Sidney confirmed, "and Sam refused to leave your room. Not even when your mom threatened to blast her to oblivion. If it hadn't been for me and Tucker, she would have done it."

"Sam stayed the whole night?" Danny asked.

"Like a faithful mate should," said Tucker.

Danny half-smiled. "She's getting more and more like us everyday," he stated.

"She's gonna be a real looker when she's fully changed," said Tucker. All three boys chuckled.

"Danny?"

The boys turned and saw Maddie floating in the kitchen doorway. Danny swam off and followed her into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mom," Danny greeted.

"How are you feeling, honey?" Maddie asked in concern.

"Better, thanks."

"I'm glad I healed your wounds. You looked pretty beat up yesterday," said Maddie.

"How did I pass out yesterday?" Danny asked.

"I looked you over and concluded that you just passed out from exhaustion," Maddie explained.

"That must be it," said Danny. "I feel right as rain."

"I also want to talk about what happened last night."

Danny flinched. If there was one thing he did not want to talk about it was that. Merfolk had told him all his life that he was going to become like the Phantoms before him. After what happened last night he was afraid that his people were right. He did not want to be a killer. He wanted to prove to everyone that he was different from the other Phantoms.

"I really don't know how it happened," Danny said honestly.

"Do you know why the other Phantoms were killers?" Maddie asked his son.

"Because everyone thought they were freaks?" Danny guessed.

"That's one of the reasons," Maddie replied. "The main reason is that it's because they were always alone. Any loved ones they had either betrayed them or were killed. When Sam was knocked out, I'm guessing you were afraid that you were going to lose her. The thought of losing the one person who could love you the way she did must have been unbearable to you. I'm guessing that's the reason why you changed."

"But I can't protect Sam all the time," Danny argued. "She'll think that I'm being overprotective. She likes to be independent."

"I'm not saying that you should watch over Sam twenty-four-seven," said Maddie. "I'm saying that she's the reason you're not like Dark Phantom."

Danny blinked. "Are you saying that Sam's the only one who can keep…whatever is inside me…under control?"

Maddie nodded.

~0~0~0~

Sam woke up alone in Danny's bed. Knowing that he put her there and that he was up and about made Sam relieved that he was all right. Now that he was no longer conked out, Sam got a good look at his room. She was surprised that he managed to get NASA posters under the sea so he could put them on his walls. Toy rockets and fighter planes dangled from the ceiling. He was more into space than he let on.

"He's always loved the stars."

Sam looked up and saw Maddie floating in the doorway. She didn't look angry or upset, compared to how she was last night. She looked…content and understanding.

"Where is Danny?" Sam asked.

"He and the guys went out to get breakfast for everyone," said Maddie. Sam nodded in understanding. "I misjudged you, Sam."

Sam was taken aback at that comment. Last night, Maddie was threatening to send Sam to oblivion and back if she didn't leave Danny's room. Now she was saying that she was wrong about Sam?

"What do you mean, Mrs. Fenton?" Sam asked.

"The way you acted last night; I've never seen anyone act so determined to stay by my son's side," Maddie explained. "The only other person who's shown that much dedication towards someone was me when I was your age and my parents disapproved of my relationship with my husband."

Sam chuckled. "That sounds familiar," she said.

Maddie smiled. "Danny's very fond of you. When Tucker filled me in on what happened last night, I realized that…I don't know…that you were different from the humans I've met in the past."

"Really?" asked Sam.

"Yeah. When I met Vlad, I thought he was very sweet. He was down to earth, a real skeptic on a lot of things, and he loved football. In fact, he introduced me to the sport shortly after I met him," Maddie continued.

Sam started to laugh. "Danny once caught a football while he was walking to class. The entire football team piled up on him."

Maddie started laughing too. "That must have hurt."

Sam nodded. "What was Danny like as a kid?" she asked, changing the subject.

Maddie smiled as she remembered all the fond memories of her son. "He was the sweetest boy you'd ever meet. Always playful, always full of energy…always lonely."

"I thought he had Tucker," said Sam.

"He did but Tucker was the only friend he ever had. No one else wanted to be his friend. For someone as lively as he was, he was eager to meet new people all the time. But no one ever wanted to get to know him," Maddie said sadly.

"Now I understand why the Phantoms before him carried such hatred towards everything," said Sam. "Everyone hated them so naturally they hated back."

Maddie nodded and heard the front door open. "We're back!" Jack announced. "We've got crab muffins and algae doughnuts!"

Sam tried not to grimace at the names of the breakfast foods provided for her. In fact, when she got into the kitchen the food looked grosser than she pictured.

"Hey, Sam," Danny greeted as he took a bite out of a crab muffin like it was nothing. "You hungry? I couldn't find any human foods you might like so we had to settle for our own."

Sam tried to smile and not gag at the same time. "It's okay. I'm sure you did your best," she said nervously.

Danny sensed her discomfort and followed her gaze towards the food. Granted it looked like something out of a horror movie but it really tasted better than it appeared. Finding vegetarian food for her was going to be tricky.

"It's not as disgusting as it looks," he tried to assure her. "I knew you would be against eating anything that once had a face so I had Dad buy some algae doughnuts for you. They're really good."

Sam heard her stomach rumble and decided to take a gamble and try the food. _'Hope I don't regret this.'_ She took a doughnut from the serving plate and sniffed it. It smelled like a normal doughnut but the proof was in the taste. She took a small bite out of it. It tasted just like a glazed doughnut with parsley sprinkles. Deciding that she liked the taste, she took a bigger bite.

"This isn't half bad," she said with her mouth full.

"Ha! Told you she'd eat it," Danny said to Tucker. "Pay up."

Tucker grumbled as he gave Danny a silver doubloon.

~0~0~0~

"So the fact that I'm now able to eat your kind of food means that my taste buds and digestive system is changing?" Sam assumed as she and Danny went swimming later that day.

"I prefer the term 'improving'," Danny answered.

Sam thought about that. "Hmmm… I guess since I haven't puked yet means something," she realized.

Danny chuckled. At least she wasn't a picky eater (as long as there wasn't any meat involved).

"So, what Tucker said last night about my pearl being like an engagement ring…was he telling the truth?" Sam asked.

Danny turned bright red. He didn't remember much about last night but he knew that Sam had finally figured out what the pearl meant. Was she going to break up with him because she was unknowingly engaged to him?

"Yeah," Danny confirmed. "The moment the pearl was exposed to moonlight, it became official. In my culture, you're officially my fiancée."

Sam's face was now redder than Danny's. "I…I don't know what to say," she stammered. "I…don't know if I'm ready to take that step in our relationship but I do know that I want be with you."

"I know," said Danny. "I'm willing to wait until you're ready, Sam."

Sam looked at him. "Really? You're willing to wait until I'm ready to accept the fact that I'm your fiancée in your people's eyes yet you're still my boyfriend in human terms?"

Danny smiled and stroked her cheek. "I'm willing to wait till after Judgment Day," he replied.

Sam smiled. Danny was so patient with her. Sam smiled back and placed her lips on his. He wrapped his arms around her and his tail around her legs. She snaked her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his snow-white hair.

"Te amo," he told her without breaking the kiss.

"Te amo quoque," Sam replied.

"Even after I went berserk last night?" he asked as he broke the kiss.

"I don't care if you turn into the Incredible Hulk. It doesn't change how I feel about you," Sam assured him.

Danny's eyebrows went up. "Really?"

"Really but I prefer if you didn't," Sam replied. "I don't think green skin would work for you."

Danny laughed at Sam's little joke.

"You're really beautiful," he told her.

Sam tried to hold back a giggle but failed. "And you're very handsome," she replied.

The two then started kissing passionately. Sam then started kissing Danny's fin-ears while he started kissing her gills. She moaned in pleasure. She was going to miss this when Summer Break started.

"How are we going to see each other during Summer Break?" Sam asked.

Danny lifted his head and faced her. "That's a good question," he said. He moved some hair out of her face. "I don't want to wait until the fall to do this again."

"Me neither," said Sam. "We finally see each other again after so many years and now I can't imagine a day without you in it."

"I can visit you on land every other day," Danny suggested.

Sam smiled and nodded. "That's a good idea. I can show you where you can meet me at the beach that's _not_ near Vlad's place."

Danny smiled back. "I'd like that very much," he replied before resuming kissing her gills.

* * *

**'Te amo quoque' is Latin for 'I love you too' in case you were wondering.  
**

**Sam got a glimpse of what Danny's people eat. Doesn't sound very appetizing, does it? Well they've got to eat something besides plankton and other fish!**

**Because y'all are so awesome, I'm happy to announce that I'll be working on a sequel to this story. I DON'T KNOW WHEN IT WILL BE POSTED! Nonetheless, I'll have a sequel up in a few weeks as soon as I think of a good storyline. **

**Until then, PLEASE PM ideas for _Voice of the Spirits_ so I can finish it! You hate stories on hiatus too, right?**


	41. The End?

**Waaaaahh! I can't believe that this is finally finished! I must say that this is probably my greatest masterpiece ever! Thank you all for following, commenting, and favoring! I love you all!**

**There are some OCs at the end of this chapter but they play super minor roles so they're not important.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 41**

**The End?**

Finals week went by fairly quickly. Everyone passed all their classes. Unfortunately, it also meant going their separate ways for the summer, something the quartet wasn't looking forward to.

"I never thought I'd say this but I don't want to leave campus," said Valerie.

"I know what you mean," said Tucker. "This has been the most exciting year I've ever had."

"That's good to know, Tucker. Now could you please let go of my legs?" Valerie asked irritably.

"But that means I'll never see you again for three months!" Tucker whined.

"Ahem!"

Damon Gray stood in the doorway, ready to take his daughter's belongings down to the car.

Tucker got nervous at his demeanor. "Uh…hi. You must be Valerie's dad. You're bigger than I thought you'd be," he whimpered.

Valerie giggled. She knew that she'd have to introduce Tucker to her father sooner or later.

~0~0~0~

Meanwhile, Sam and Daniel were sitting in the cave coming up with a plan for Daniel to visit Sam during the summer. She held a map of Amity Park and showed Daniel the best places to visit her.

"So, when's the best time to visit you while your parents are asleep?" Daniel asked slyly.

Sam playfully hit him. "Easy, boy. Let's not get ahead of ourselves," she said.

Daniel chuckled. "Wishful thinking." He put an arm around Sam's shoulders. "I'm really gonna miss you, Sam."

Sam smiled. "Well, we won't be separated forever," she said. "We're both sneaky. We'll manage to see each other over the summer."

Daniel kissed the side of her head. "Your parents might keep me away from you," he said.

Sam scoffed. "I'd like to see them try."

Daniel then frowned. "They're…gonna have to find out the truth about us sooner or later," he said.

Sam also frowned. "That's something they'll never approve of," she said mournfully. "The moment they find out what you really are and what's happening to me, they'll split us up. You'll be sent to a research facility and I'll be at a hospital getting my scales and fins removed or something."

Daniel then hugged Sam from behind. "I'll never let that happen," he vowed.

Sam smiled and leaned against him. This was where she felt safest. No one could make her feel safer and more secure than being in the arms of the man she loved. He nuzzled his face into her hair, getting as much of her scent (lavender and hibiscus) in his memory as possible before going home.

Sam turned to face him and planted a kiss on his lips. Daniel returned the kiss with a passion. He wrapped his strong yet scrawny arms around her, one of his hands going to the small of her back. Sam's arms snaked around his neck, her fingers running through his raven black hair.

Daniel felt his icy blue eyes change into its normal neon green. His teeth slowly began to sharpen. He knew what was happening but he fought off his inner desires for Sam, for both their sakes.

Sam noticed what was going on and knew what Daniel was trying to do. "It's okay," she assured him.

"No, it's not okay," Daniel grunted. "I can't give in or I might do something that I'll regret."

As much as Sam wanted to say that she was willing to make one exception, it would go against everything she believed in. Not to mention her parents would go ballistic if _that_ happened.

Sam wrapped her arms around her boyfriend. "I love you," she said.

Daniel looked deeply into her amethyst eyes. "I love you too…forever," he replied.

Sam smiled at him. "Forever and a day."

The two then began to kiss passionately. Both of them wanted this moment to last forever. Seeing each other over the summer was going to be a challenge but they were willing to take risks.

Sam parted the kiss and asked, "Can we…go for a swim before you go home?"

Daniel smiled and jumped into the water, changing into his true form. His head popped out of the water and Sam carefully climbed onto his back. Danny then glided out of the cave. When the coast was clear, he began to pick up speed. He eventually began to jump through the water like a dolphin.

Sam's fins and gills came out the moment he went under the first time. This was way more fun than riding a Jet Ski or water skiing. In fact, this was the most fun Sam's had in weeks. Studying for finals took up a lot of time for her so it was nice to finally unwind.

Danny eventually went down under completely. Sam held on tight as he sped through the depths of the ocean.

"Ah! There it is!" he announced.

Sam didn't realize she had her eyes squeezed shut. When she opened them, she saw that they were in front of a cave entrance. However, Sam could feel the light pull of a current coming from inside the cave.

"What is this?" she asked.

"A little fun. I guess you can say this is our version of a water slide," Danny replied with a chuckle. "Hold on tight."

Danny then charged into the cave, allowing the current to take over. Sam held onto Danny's neck tighter than usual. It felt like she was on a roller coaster.

"YAHOO!" Danny cheered as they swerved in all directions. It was dark inside so Sam had no idea which way was up, down, left, or right.

Eventually they made it to the end as the current finally slowed and allowed Danny to swim freely. They swam out of the cave and back into the wide-open ocean.

"What did you think?" Danny asked Sam who was still clinging to his neck for dear life. Danny had to pull Sam's hands off of him to get her back to her senses.

"Huh? Oh! That was… That was kind of…fun yet terrifying," Sam honestly told him.

Danny laughed at her answer. "I thought you'd like that. I figured I'd end this year with something fun to do," he told her.

"Well, mission accomplished," Sam replied matter-of-factly.

Danny took her hand and guided her back to the surface. "I'd better get you back. Your family is probably wondering where you are," he said, all hints of amusement gone from his voice.

They swam in silence for a while until Sam broke it. "You know, I think I know why I'm going through these changes," she said. Danny looked at her questioningly. "They didn't start until after Winter Break."

"Yeah. Go on," Danny encouraged.

"Well, after Vlad tried to steal my pearl I realized that the only way I would feel safe was if you were with me," Sam continued. "That was when I realized that I was in love with you too. I saw the moon and sang to it like we sometimes do and my pearl started glowing. I think that's what triggered it."

Danny smiled and embraced her. "That's gotta be it," he said. "When you realized how you felt towards me, your heart must have given the green light for the pearl to start its magic on you."

"Speaking of magic, when do you think I'll be able to do it?" Sam asked curiously.

Danny buried his face in Sam's ebony hair. "Who knows? Everyone can do it. You'll be able to do it soon," he responded.

The two eventually made it back to the cave and dried off. Changing back into his human disguise, he walked Sam (also back to normal) out of the cave.

"There you are, Sammy-kins!" said Pamela. "It's time to go."

Jeremy eyed Daniel and readily frowned. "And no, Daniel is NOT invited to come with us to Miami for the family reunion," he said before Sam could say anything. Sam sneered at her parents for talking like that to her boyfriend.

"Fine. Just let me say good-bye," she said.

Her parents nodded and walked back to their limo.

"Okay. I just went from scared to downright terrified of telling your parents the truth about us," Daniel told Sam.

"Hopefully Grandma will be more understanding," Sam muttered. She then turned to her boyfriend. "So, you'll drop by over the summer?"

"Totally. I'll even call you on your shell phone to let you know ahead of time," Daniel assured her. He then placed a loving kiss on her lips. "I'll come visit you. I promise."

_HONK! HONK!_

Sam's family was getting impatient.

Sam sighed and looked up at Daniel. "I know you will," she answered. The two reluctantly let go of each other and Sam slowly walked toward the limo. She opened the door and before she stepped in, she turned and mouthed the words 'te amo' to him.

Daniel waved to the limo as it drove off. His heart cried out for him to follow it but he refrained. Regardless of warnings, the future didn't scare him at all. Nothing was like before. It was better.

~0~0~0~

"What?! What do you mean he escaped?" Operative O demanded.

"When I said he escaped, I mean HE ESCAPED!" a rookie exclaimed.

"You realize that he's the only specimen we have?" K asked.

"I know! I'm sorry!" the rookie cried. "I was only gone for five minutes to hit the can! How was I supposed to know he'd escape?"

"You were supposed to wait until your replacement came for his shift," O scolded.

"It was an emergency! I couldn't hold it in," the rookie defended. "And standing guard over a tank full of _water_…"

"Okay, we get it," K said hurriedly.

"Search the perimeter," O ordered his fellow operatives. "Bring him back here alive! We can't risk exposing him to the public yet!"

Meanwhile, several hundred miles away, Vlad Plasmius finally surfaced from the river that was near his cabin in the Rockies. He was seething with rage. If he knew that harming Samantha that much would cause the Phantom's true nature to awaken, he would have thought of a different plan.

He would have to lay low for a while. The Guys in White were searching for the Manmade Hybrid but they weren't looking for Vlad Masters. He would have to stay in hiding until everything cooled down in California.

What was he going to do now? He still needed to become a full-fledged merman to be with his true love but how was he going to do that? Abducting the Phantom was a mistake. He harmed his mate and look what happened. Vlad didn't want to think what Samantha was capable of if he harmed Daniel in front of her even if she wasn't a complete mermaid yet.

An idea struck him then. If Vlad couldn't defeat the Phantom, maybe the High Council in Atlantis could.

"If you think you've beaten me, Daniel, you're sadly mistaken," Vlad said aloud. "The only ones who are actually able to defeat you are the same ones who defeated the Phantoms before you."

~0~0~0~

"Sammy! Look, look, look!" Susan Jones, Sam's nine-year-old cousin called out. Susan and her younger brother James were from Pamela's side of the family.

Sam stayed in the shade of her beach umbrella looking out into the ocean during the May afternoon. She couldn't believe she was reduced to watching over her cousins while her parents and relatives were out having fun. She really wanted to go back to the west coast so she could have fun with Danny and her friends.

"What is it, Susie? As if I really care," Sam drawled.

"A bottle washed up on the beach," James said excitedly. "There's something in it but we can't open it."

That got Sam's attention. "A bottle you say?" she asked, intrigued. "And there's something in it?"

"Yeah! It sounds like there's lots of stuff in it too," Susan squeaked.

"Give it," Sam ordered with her hand out, demanding the kid to give the bottle to her. Susan did so and Sam opened the bottle easily. She dumped the contents out into the sand, making sure that the water didn't touch her skin so her secret wouldn't be exposed. A small pair of hoop earrings, a pocket knife, and a photo of her and her three friends standing in front of Tick Tock Clock Shop (the photo was taken by Dick).

"That's you!" James pointed out.

"How did a picture of you end up in a bottle on the beach?" asked Susan.

Sam smiled, knowing that a certain merman was nearby. "Let's just say that I know a Phantom who has a lot of tricks up his sleeve," she said. A flash of light from the water caught her eye. She knew that he only came by to give her this little present then used magic to head back home (probably thanks to a certain Cecaelia).

Sam had a feeling in her heart that her life was not going to be the same ever again. And she liked it.

* * *

**Give me a few weeks for my brain to recover and to focus on the last few weeks of classes. Keep an eye out for the sequel, _Gothus Angelus_.  
**

**Thank you, Feri-san and mikopriestessmayumi for inspiring me to write this story! After seeing your fanart on deviantart, I was inspired to write this! And thank you CartoonFreakshow and jeanette9a for your fanart! Your artwork encouraged me to keep writing.  
**

**And most importantly, thank you my reviewers and followers and those who favored PNF! I love you all and I hope the sequel will be as good as this.**


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